


to play the fool (V2)

by DarkrystalSky



Series: to play the fool [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I lost control of the angst, Illustrated, Julia Burnsides Lives, Lich Taako, Minor Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Taako Remembers, UPDATE: save yourselves, a little angst because plot but feel good fic, feel good fic, instead of solving things he fucks shit up and messes with people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-02-07 17:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 115,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12845652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkrystalSky/pseuds/DarkrystalSky
Summary: “This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;And to do that well craves a kind of wit:He must observe their mood on whom he jests,The quality of persons, and the time,And, like the haggard, check at every featherThat comes before his eye. This is a practiseAs full of labour as a wise man's artFor folly that he wisely shows is fit;But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.”- William Shakespeare, Twelfth NightLucretia feeds their history to the Voidfish and scatters her friends down in the world. What she hadn't considered was Taako not forgetting at all.





	1. the common curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance, be thine in great revenue! Heaven bless thee from a tutor, and discipline come not near thee!_
> 
>  
> 
> _\- William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Scene 3_  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're here for the first time or you're rereading, take a peek at the Preface in "chapter 37" before reading.  
> Thank you and enjoy!

In hindsight, the way the whole thing started was _extremely_ dumb. Most interesting twists and turns are like that, you forget to put your keys in your pocket as you leave your house, or you take an umbrella with you on a sunny day and your life is drastically different from the one you would’ve had. Some people have fancy names for this, like _The Butterfly Effect_ or _Causal Sequence_ or simply just believe it to be a joke of _Fate_.

But the goddess of fate had no active role in the dropped stitches. The seemingly annoying event only provoked a smile in her ageless features, and she undid her tapestry, branching the story into a new segment, excited to see where it would end.

-

In his defense, Taako was more than a little sleep deprived when it happened. In fact, he didn’t even _remember_ that particular event until much later - _decades,_ even -  as the memory was already blurry the day after.

It was one of the last cycles, not that any of them _knew_ it then. At the time it was just _Cycle 96_ and the journey was getting _tiring_ , emotionally and physically, as The Hunger was taking less and less time to catch up. The cycle before, it had arrived after 10 months, and thank the gods for the ship’s internal machinery counting the days, because the sun had never set there and they wouldn’t have been able to escape without knowing how much time had passed.

The world they were currently in was kinder, but its inhabitants were rather violent: a band of natives had taken the Light of Creation and dragged it into their impossibly complex system of underground cities. Captain Davenport and his expertise in illusion magic were essential to the mission’s success, so he left the ship, even though they knew they had only a few days remaining. As liches, Lup and Barry were now the powerhouses of the group, and if the mission didn’t end successfully, they could fly back to protect the ship as it left. Lucretia had left on the mission too, as she was the only one that had bothered to study the locals’ culture and language and she hoped to be able to get the crew out of any eventual bad turn of events.

Merle and Magnus had already kicked the bucket for the cycle, so the only one who _knew_ how to fly the Starblaster in a pinch and could also stay alone and protect it was _Taako_. And that was how the elf ended up on his own for a few days, with only Fisher’s company and _a bunch_ of free time he couldn’t really enjoy because The Hunger was going to show up any day.

So, Taako, to remain awake and alert, focused on that one thing he could enjoy doing and didn’t have to focus on: experimenting in the kitchen. Merle had brought him a bunch of local spices before falling victim to one particularly _wicked_ plant’s poison, and Taako was taking his time experimenting with them. This wasn’t even a favorable world for the arcane arts, something wrong with the Plane of Magic apparently, so he had to stick to the traditional methods and hope he wouldn’t poison himself. He set his mind on a particular objective - that when the others got back, he’d present them the best _or the worst_ tasting dish he ever made - and started his cooking marathon.

Out of boredom, he decided to bring Fisher’s tank in the kitchen. He’d have at least something vaguely resembling an audience to talk and show off to. The alien jellyfish hummed and twirled when Taako gave it his attention, but appeared to be otherwise oblivious to everything happening around it. That’s why, when he started singing excitedly all of a sudden and for no apparent reason whatsoever, emerging from the top of the tank and extending a few tentacles towards Taako, the chef was rather taken aback.

The tentacles seemed to be _holding something_ , as Fisher kept singing excitedly, almost as if he was trying to _communicate_ something.

“Watcha want to show me, Fishy?” Taako mumbled, laying down the knife and holding out a hand towards the tentacle wrap. Something round and wet fell gently into his stretched fingers and rolled into his palm. Taako grimaced at the contact with the wet slime, and blinked a few times, trying to focus or understand what the gelatinous blob was.

Fisher looked at him - or at least he _assumed_ he was looking at him, that damn thing had no eyes to speak of - and kept chirping quietly. Taako didn’t need to be a damn xenobiologist to understand it was waiting for something of him.

“Are you...trying to help me cook?” he tentatively asked. Fisher chirped and twirled, _was that a yes or no_? Impossible to say.

Taako smelled the blob, scrunching his face at the distinct stink of raw fish, and finally, tentatively licked it.

And Fisher _screamed_. A loud and piercing sound like scraping metal that made Taako’s _bones_ shiver and a few glasses ring. The tentacles that were up until that moment swishing and moving harmoniously above the tank, shot towards the elf aggressively and forcefully _ripped_ the blob out of his hands, dragging him forward for a moment as well, before Fisher retreated completely underwater and apparently calmed down.

Taako stared, the complete _idiocy_ of the whole scene dawning on him as he slowly put down his utensils and turned off the heat under a pot that he wasn’t quite sure what it contained anymore. He walked away and turned his back on the kitchen, resolving to _at least_ meditate for a few hours.

In that moment, a series of events had just been put in motion, and Taako had no idea. He had no idea how badly he’d just fucked up.


	2. grown so bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The world is grown so bad that wrens make pray where eagles dare not perch. Since every jack became a gentleman there’s many a gentle person made a jack._  
>  \- William Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 1 Scene 3

When the Light of Creation landed in their hands not even two days into Cycle 99, the overwhelming feeling of _relief_ was almost tangible. Barry, who had studied it the longest, was able to split it in seven powerful pieces and distribute it among them. With the fragment of Light and the knowledge they got from the Hanging Arcaneum they crafted one magical item each: they hadn’t even planned on making each of them from a different school of magic, it just came naturally, everyone exploiting their best knowledge.

And then they released them into the world.

A year passed, and The Hunger didn’t follow.

They’d won, but at a price.

Never did a celebration feel more disappointing, never a victory more empty. They witnessed the destruction, the wars raging below, unable to intervene or correct their mistakes, flying above, feeling more and more like detached harbingers of chaos looking down on the mortal world.

‘ _I know we don’t say this enough but- thank you_.’

When Lup disappeared, her loss was the last straw. Cycles without Lup had always been more grim, but this wasn’t supposed to be _just a Cycle_ , it was supposed to be _home_ \- ‘ _Eska_ ’ she’d said when they got the Light, _home_ , a word that meant everything and nothing for her and her brother. Her absence was like a violent scream, louder even than her presence had been when they were still all together.

He’d noticed how Lucretia had been acting weird for weeks, travelling back and forth between the ship and the surface, collecting information, spending gold and writing down copy after copy of her journal. She’d also been spending more time with Fisher than any other member of the crew, but Taako didn’t have the heart to care. He and Barry focused completely on the search for Lup, exploring caves and dungeons, risking their lives more often than not, but always with no result.

“Taako, what if she’s just gone?” after weeks or tiring, fruitless search, Barry finally voiced what had been nagging at the back of their heads for _months_ now.

“She is _not_ ” Taako grimaced, eyes pointed at the land below, hands clutching the deck’s handrail. He was gonna find her and drag her back home and serve her nothing but fish broth for _days_ after this stunt; the thought of her pissed off face, the memory of her laughter was what kept him going.

It was Barry’s irregular breathing that made him turn around. The man, his _brother-in-law_ was clutching his head and looking around in panic.

“Barold?”

“I’m - oh, Gods,” he looked up at Taako. “I can’t-”

There was something wrong. Suddenly, Taako was alert, the Krebstar in his hand, and he quickly cast Detect Magic, but there was no sign of an enchantment around them, only Barry’s dim necrotic aura and the channeling light around the krebstar.

What was going on?

“I-is this Fisher? I can’t remember her _face,_ Taako.”

Taako frowned. There was only one 'her' that would affect Barry like this, but that wasn't- he couldn't be forgetting her, that wasn't possible. It had to be someone else. Taako needed it to be someone else.

“Whose face?”

Barry looked up in panic, an exclamation stuck in his throat becoming a rasping wail. “I don’t want to forget her, I don’t want to- we were _looking_ for- for-”

“Lup?” Taako’s blood froze in his veins. Why was Barry forgetting about Lup? He loved her, he had her _heart_ , she was his _anchor_. How could that even be possible? ‘ _Is this Fisher_ ’ he’d just asked. If that was the case, would Taako start forgetting her soon, like the songs in the Legato conservatory? Gone from their memory, turned into static as soon as…

“Lucretia,” Taako growled, putting together the pieces. He moved towards the door to confront her but Barry stopped him. The man grabbed Taako’s robe and fell on his knees, looking at him in panic and urgency, cold sweat prickling his skin.

“ _Kill me_ ,” he begged, “I’ll remember if I’m a lich, I’ll-”

“What? No way! No reset this time, I’m not killing you for good!” Taako argued, starting to panic. He needed to stop her, there was a chance the others were forgetting Lup too-

Taako _froze_.

Why wasn’t he? His memories of Lup were as vivid as always, burning fiery like watching a tempest below and knowing you are _safe_. He was relieved although _it made no sense_ that he would be safe from Fisher’s influence: he hadn’t heard Lucretia’s staticed song.

Then, as he concentrated, made an effort on finding an explanation, he felt the pull of a familiar spell.

 _Sleep_.

It was a ridiculously simple spell, but cast with a ridiculously high spell slot to affect _all of them_ at once. Barry fell limp on the ground, unconscious, almost immediately.

Taako stumbled, grabbing at the map on the table, crumpling the paper in his hand, before losing his senses and falling prone beside Barry.

Lup’s face danced in front of his eyes as he fell unconscious.

 


	3. the world 's a stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages._  
>  \- William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2 Scene 7

No matter how much novels and poems and paintings made it look romantic and ethereal, waking up on grass _sucked_. And Taako knew this _before_ he was able to actually remember what happened.

Waking up from a Sleep spell was like waking up hungover, except without the fun beforehand. He stirred as he fought the pounding headache and soreness from having slept with his back against the bark of an old tree, butt soaked in the morning dew, struggling to focus on the bright colors of the clearing, and saw a familiar figure hurrying towards him.

She was wearing a dark blue dress and a black veil, like a widow in mourning, but if her height and color of her hands didn’t give her away, her voice did.

“Hush, take it easy, you’ll be fine,” Lucretia spoke softly, moving Taako’s bangs out of his eyes gently, but with a hint of hesitation.

“...what…” he managed to croak, still too groggy to elaborate.

“Your name is Taako,” she started, softly but hurried. “You’re an amazing cook and, after many years on the road, you’ve finally managed to gather enough money to start your own cooking show.”

Taako frowned - _what was she saying?_ \- but before he could muster enough energy to reply, Lucretia surprised him by gently kissing him on the forehead and probably casting Teleport to disappear without a trace.

_What was going on?_

As soon as he finally regained enough clarity to stand up, he looked at the wagon in front of him. It was a _beautiful_ , astonishingly decorated stage coach: the kitchen stage took the back half of the wagon, while the front held the living quarters, with a bunk bed and a wardrobe with all of Taako’s clothes in it.

 _It was meant for two_.

“Just _how long_ have you been planning this?” he muttered while he explored every nook and cranny. The pantry was well stocked and most of the kitchenware came from the Starblaster, pots and pans and silverware he brought from home, and very specific cooking equipment he collected in several different planes. On any other day this would have been an amazing present, a dream of a lifetime for him and Lup except…

What happened on the Starblaster?

 _Is this Fisher?_ Barry had said.

Fisher erased information, did he erase information on their trip? _On their identities?_ Lucretia apparently remembered enough to put him there: she’d been working on her journals for weeks and her trips to the surface were probably how she acquired the stagecoach.

She _definitely_ meant to erase their memories and give them new lives, free of guilt, evidently even before Lup left.

But Taako _remembered absolutely everything_.

_Where was everyone else?_

Taako’s hand rushed at his side, but the Krebstar was gone, replaced by a simple ivory wand.

She brought him here. _She did this_.

Taako knew he was supposed to feel angry: _Lucretia_ tried to make him forget everything, she probably didn’t even consider that he could remember - _how was he immune?_ He wasn’t dead, that was for sure, so how did the memory wipe not affect him?

Lucretia had a plan going, she made Barry forget, probably made everyone forget, _and for what_? Be free to go with her stupid _barrier_ plan?

Taako couldn’t have said why, but he wasn’t angry, maybe a little pissed but not angry, not the soul deep rage he would have expected from such a betrayal. Anyway, he wasn’t gonna stand still and quiet like she probably expected him to. He glanced at the two stallions in front of the wagon, smiled, adjusted his hat and prepared to go.

Lucretia would surely have her eyes on him. He would play the part for now, let her follow him and think everything was going as she expected - at the right time, he knew how to use that to his advantage and become a _living wrench_ in her work.

But, as entertaining that plan was, he would _not_ stop looking for Lup, and while he was at it, _he was going to look for his family too_.

-

Needless to say, the show was a _huge_ success. He set up the wagon in a small village near Luskan and started to cook on the stage. Quickly enough, the smell caught the attention of several peasants that gathered around the stagecoach as he started to show off his abilities, cutting floating vegetables with Mage Hands, using prestidigitation instead of edible dyes to make the garnish colorful, transmuting the exact amount of flour without weighing it.

The crowd was loving it, and he reveled in their admiration, dispensing smiles and winks like the natural born showman he was. More than a few golden coins landed in his hat after the show. It would take a while to build up a brand and actually start selling _tickets_ , but he had a feeling he was getting there.

In Luskan, he used the money to buy water, hay and replenish his stock. He bought a _map_ he hung on the wall in the living quarters, marking the places he knew from memory they’d been looking for Lup without any result.

He moved south, hoping to get closer to the next glassing, and continued his search.

-

After the third show, he hand painted a glittery and colorful sign to hang at the back of the caravan: _Sizzle it up with Taako_ \- he left space on the bottom to eventually add Lup’s name as well. His name was already on a lot of people’s tongues, just as planned: if Lup was out there, looking for him as well, she’d have a higher chance of finding him if he was famous. And if she wasn’t- No. She was definitely still out there, he’d _know_ if she was gone, he would _feel_ it.

He couldn’t give up.

-

During his first shows, he actually saw Lucretia observing him, mingling in the crowd, smiling with a bitterness he was all too familiar with. He played the part, and she never stayed to talk with him after the show - understandably - but after a few months, she stopped showing. Whether she lost interest or she had better things to do, she didn’t appear to _care_ anymore.

 _So why should he_?

-

Taako was delighted by the adoration his fans had for him, crowding at the bottom of his stagecoach when he revisited towns he’d been in before. He gave them what they wanted, he accepted their gifts - hand sewn shawls, trinkets, bottles of wine - and talked to them, entertained them. Always kept them at a careful distance.

Their admiration was impersonal, directed towards what had become his public persona, and not towards _him_. He used that devotion, that regard, to gather as much information as possible towards the permanent goal of finding his family.

No one stayed for long enough to become important to Taako, no one even _tried_ \- everyone too busy with their own life and affairs. That is, no one until _Sazed_.

The man took Taako by surprise, appearing by the stagecoach after Taako had gone shopping in the narrow streets of the village where the wagon wouldn’t enter. Taako wasn’t worried about thieves or the such, he had several enchantments around the stagecoach that would keep anyone from entering or leaving with it.

When Taako walked back, the man was leaning against the stagecoach with a playful grin and a confident demeanour. Taako glanced him up and down with a smirk: he was definitely attractive and if the jewelry didn’t give it away, his posture surely framed him as some sort of merchant and someone who - not unlike Taako - was used to dealing with people.

“I’ve been told the meals you serve are delicious,” he spoke as soon as Taako was close enough to hear him. “I had _no idea_ the chef looked as exquisite.”

Taako burst out laughing. “That’s certainly some pickup line, my dude!” He entered the stagecoach, putting the newly acquired ingredients on the shelves, casting a string of enchantments to keep them fresh and in place. The man stared intently, fascinated by the nonchalant way he kept using magic for something as mundane as keeping a bunch of chicken thighs from spoiling.

As soon as he was done, Taako turned around, leaning over the counter and looking down at the man, hands crossed under his chin and a playful smile painted on his face. “So, how can I help you?”

The man grinned, looking up with a delighted smile, like a child in front of a sweets shop. “I…” he started, clearing his throat, “I have an offer to make, but before that...will you let me buy you a drink?”

The stranger was charming, handsome and had a way with words. Taako was familiar with his kind, and yet _this was a fan_ , someone who admired him, and Taako - although he was doing his best not to show it - was starting to feel _lonely_.

“Yeah, sure,” Taako replied, gracefully jumping over the counter and in front of the man. “Let’s start with that.” He coquettishly nudged against him and prompted him to take his arm.

The man fumbled for a moment, blushing wildly, before gently taking Taako’s arm and leading him away.

“There’s no need for introductions on my side, right?” Taako glanced at him. “I would love to know your name, though.”

The man grinned brightly as he led Taako towards the closest inn. “I’m Sazed.”

-

Sazed was funny, brilliant and just modest enough for Taako to absolutely _enjoy_ teasing him constantly, something Sazed couldn’t seem to get enough of.

“You were talking about an offer,” Taako finally said, as he sipped on his third glass of Grey Goose. Elves like to party, but Taako knew how to handle his drink and he knew this was just one more way of impressing the man who kept buying it for him.

Sazed straightened up, fighting the numbness of alcohol. “Yes,” he said. “So, I’m a bit of a Jack of All Trades, and I’m in need of crossing the country. I was wondering if you were interested in hiring a- how can I say? A right hand man?”

Taako frowned. “I work solo, my man,” he sipped on the drink. “I don’t need a right hand, I’m perfectly capable of handling my own shit.”

“I don’t doubt that!” he laughed sheepishly. “It’s just- it must not be that nice to travel alone.”

Taako looked up at him, Sazed’s confident grin had turned into a sympathetic smile and Taako _frowned_ , there was something weird going on: Taako was not one for _pity_ and yet the man’s words didn’t bother him as they should have.

“I’ll just ask for a small wage and I’ll manage your tour dates, replenish your stock, sell tickets, spread the word. So you can completely focus on your cooking!” Sazed continued, leaning forward, his face getting _very_ close to Taako’s.

“And my search,” Taako blurted out.

Taken aback, Sazed sat back. “Search?”

“The reason I’m doing the show,” Taako threw back the rest of the drink, emptying the glass. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Oh,” Was all Sazed said, giving him another sympathetic grin. “That’s good then! You can focus on that and I...I’ll take care of everything else. What’s their name?”

“ _Lup_ ,” Taako muttered. “She left, ‘ _Back Soon_ ’ she said, it’s been months...she- the wagon was meant for…”

Like struck by a bolt of lightning, Taako straightened his back. A flash of fear appeared briefly over Sazed’s eyes as Taako just stared at him with a blank expression.

“Did you just,” Taako spoke slowly, suddenly lucid, “ _fucking_ try to charm me?”

Sazed laughed nervously. “What?” he hunched his shoulders and shied away from the table.

“ _Did you just fucking try to charm me_?” Taako repeated, standing up and raising his voice, attracting the attention of several other patrons of the inn. All playfulness was gone, replaced by sheer _fury_ on his face. He grabbed the front of Sazed's shawl.

Sazed was positively terrified. “I’m- I’m sorry,” he whimpered. Taako could see it now, the fake jewelry, the tacky low-quality tunic, disguised with a cheap spell. _How was he so fucking blind_? “I- I really need a ride, look, _I don’t even want to get paid_ , I just want to get out of this dump!”

Taako leaned over him, no longer smiling coquettishly but threateningly, controlled sparks of magic dancing on the top of his fingers as he slammed one hand on the table and another on Sazed’s shoulder before he could attempt to stand up. “You know what?” he chuckled. “I would’ve allowed it, probably, if you hadn’t _fucking_ tried to use magic to convince me, asshole.”

“It was a safety net!” he blurted out. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

“Not sorry enough.”

Ripping off a fake ruby from Sazed’s shawl, he transmuted it into a genuine gemstone and then into a fine powder. A semi-transparent cage shimmered around Sazed’s chair - big enough for him to sit but not tall enough for him to stand.

“I’ll give you about an hour to think about what you’ve done. If I see your ugly mug again after that, I’m gonna blast you to the moon, thug.”

Sazed’s fists banged on the invisible barrier, making him look like a pitiful mime.

Taako grinned, knowing the silence behind him meant all the eyes in the room were pointed at them. From his bag of holding he extracted a small vial, not bigger than his pinky, with a few shavings of a black substance mixed with a drop of quicksilver. Taako crushed the vial and as he did, the parallelepipedal cage filled with a pitch black darkness.

Finally, with a trademark showman smile, Taako turned around to face the innkeeper and clapped his hands. “That’s what happens if you mess with Taako,” he announced to her dumbstruck face. He pointed at the blackness prison, “It should come down in about an hour, I’m taking the rest of the bottle, he’s paying the bill.”

The innkeeper nodded slowly, shocked and a little frightened.

Taako grabbed the half empty bottle of liquor from the counter and waltzed out, humming a playful tune. Maybe he’d gone a little overboard, but he didn’t regret wasting his higher spell slots onto an asshole, especially since he still had several tricks up his sleeve.

Oh, how he had missed properly _showing off_ his abilities: he’d been restraining himself since he still suspected Lucretia had been keeping an eye on him, but even if during the next two, three shows, he kept his aloof charade up, playing with cantrips and limiting his talent to when he really needed to use it to collect information, Lucretia didn’t appear.

What could she have possibly done to him?

Red crosses multiplied on the map.

He kept looking.


	4. better days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake, let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads, and say, as 'twere a knell unto our master's fortunes, ‘We have seen better days.'_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act 4 Scene 2_

Even after several years on the road, wandering from town to town and city to city, performing his spectacular mix of cooking and magic, Taako still wouldn’t have ever admitted that he was absolutely loving his new life. The happiness and satisfaction his new career would have given him were dimmed by the fact that in all that time his search was fruitless, in all of Faerun there was no trace of Lup or any of his friends.

His first dungeon dive alone almost cost him his life: from then on, he elected to join the eventual group of adventurers under a disguise spell, or simply to discreetly ask information. It wasn’t like he could put the search on Craig’s List or Lucretia would connect the dots and realize he hadn’t forgotten at all.

He started singling out people from the crowd after the show, asking them to take part in a taste test or an impromptu lesson and then, striking casual conversations, he would describe his friends and wonder if they’d seen them around.

“...elven woman, looks a lot like me, flings a lot of fire spells…”

“...tall, kind of a bear-like fellow, red hair, awesome sideburns...yes,  _ human,  _ it’s…”

“...gnome with a mustache, doesn’t talk much, probably adventuring or sailing…”

“...and he always wears blue sturdy pants. I’m not kidding, that’s an actual character trait of him, it’s on his character sheet!”

“...a dwarf, just about this tall, quite elderly, follower of Pan…”

“There’s a Panite dwarven community on the coast east of the Nelanther,” one of his one-off students said suddenly one day. Taako dropped his showman smile immediately and stared at them. “It’s quite insular, but I’ve run a supply job for the Roughridge family a couple of years ago when the fishing wasn’t so great.”

“East  of the Nelanther…” Taako repeated. It was gonna be hard to bring his wagon over the bog but he could do it. His voice was full with excitement when he spoke again. “I’ll check it out.”

-

As he emerged from the swamp, the lower half of the wagon covered in rust red mud, Taako knew he was in the right place.

It was almost ironic how the world they stopped in was so similar to the one they came from: magitech wasn’t as advanced but it had the same races, some cities were basically identical and Merle even said, a few weeks after their arrival, an alternate version of his  _ family _ was there. It was incredibly stupid of Taako not to check that out sooner.

The dwarven community didn’t kick out Taako immediately, which was a half success, but was understandably diffident of the elf suddenly barging in their town asking about someone called Highchurch. They sent him towards a small village on the northern beach and there, instead of continuing to ask questions, Taako decided to set up a show.

He purchased in gold pieces a dozen different kinds of seafood and started making the broth for a fish stew in his biggest pot. The smell quickly caught the locals’ attention as a small crowd gathered around the stagecoach, not unlike what happened with his very first show.

Taako showed off his skills as usual, cleaning the mussels one by one, exposing the fishbones whole to prove there were going to be none in the final dish, a set of colorful hourglasses aiding him in cooking each different ingredient in the exact amount of time in funny-shaped pots. He even made a little show for the kids as he animated a couple of fish heads arguing with Mage Hand: better than having them poking around the stage, the nosy little gerblins.

He almost slipped when he finally spotted Merle in the crowd, holding hands with an elderly dwarven woman and a two-three years old  _ kid _ .  _ Gods, Merle, what the fuck man _ ?

Taako conjured some seashell-shaped bowls and distributed free samples of the stew among the crowd. After a moment of hesitation, they  _ absolutely loved it _ and crowded around the stage asking for more, for recipes and lesson. On any other day, he would have been pleased, but he felt a sting of pain when he saw the dwarven woman drag Merle away.

For a man with a family and a peaceful life, he didn’t look  _ happy _ .

Taako stayed for the night. The community offered him a bedroom in the local inn, but Taako elected to sleep in the wagon’s bed. That night, for the first time, he drew a circle in green on his current location on the map.

-

Taako woke up in the middle of the night because of the sharp sting of an alarm spell activating and a shout of pain. He immediately ran outside just to see two unfamiliar small figures running away in the night and a burning torch laying abandoned on the sand. Taako kicked some sand on the flame to put it out and and went back to bed, dismissing the situation.

He immediately regretted it in the early afternoon, when a clamoring sound shocked him awake again as someone banged on the door. Taako didn’t even bother to fix himself up, he threw on a glamour and opened the door, appearing in front of what was apparently a pretty angry small crowd, led by an elderly dwarf whose beard was braided with seashells and jewels.

As Taako appeared, a clamor of voices and raised fists suddenly started, but the elder only needed to raise a hand to calm them down. “I’ve heard you’ve hurt my grandson.”

“Ex-fucking-scuse me?” Taako raised an eyebrow, this was the kind of shit he was definitely too  _ tired _ to deal with.

“Daerbrek!” the elder barked, and a snivelling, crouched figure of a dwarven youngster came forward, his arms and face covered in dozens of small cuts. “My grandson claims he came to you this morning to talk about yesterday’s show and you attacked him with magic.”

Taako just blankly stared back. “Nope. Cha’boy was asleep until moments ago, kemosabe.”

The elder glared at the weeping boy. He jolted and started crying louder. “I-it’s true! He walked out and cast a spell on me and cut me all over!”

Taako glanced again at the boy, unable to tell whether he’d seen him before or not. “Didn’t happen. Those look like the effect of one of the alarm spells I’ve got around the wagon though.” He explained and as he did he recalled the event of the night before. “You’re not the guy who was trying to set the stagecoach on fire last night, are you?”

The boy jumped and pointed a finger at him. “Liar!”

Taako rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning against the door jamb. “I just asked a question…”

The elder didn’t seem convinced and neither was the crowd.

“This alarm spell, how does it work?” a familiar voice asked. Taako turned his head and suddenly Merle was there, watching curiously at the scene.

“Nobody asked you to butt in, Highchurch,” a woman said with spite.

Taako replied when he realized most of the dwarves was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. “It detects malicious intent and lightly harms the assailant, while alerting me in the process…”

Merle nodded, decisively. “So if I do this…” he raised a hand, holding a small rock, and approached a wheel. Before Taako or anyone else could stop it, he moved to slam it down on the wood. With a flash and a ring, Merle was tossed backwards and fell on his back on the sand, fresh bleeding cuts appearing on his face and arms.

“Shit, are you alright?!” Taako stepped out, sounding more worried than he would have liked to.

Merle stayed prone, but gave a thumbs up and grinned.

The elder looked at him and at his son, now evidently on edge, and finally slammed the end of his walking stick on the boy’s head and grabbed his ear before he could complain. The crowd started dispersing and he walked away, not before turning around one last time. “I’m glad this was resolved peacefully, but don’t overstay your welcome.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” Taako mumbled, not specifically addressing him back and instead helping Merle back on his feet. “You know, a Zone Of Truth would have sufficed.”

“Oh, right!” Merle laughed, completely ignoring the constellation of light wounds on his skin. “I didn’t think of that.”

A Merle that didn’t think of casting Zone of Truth first and foremost. Taako couldn’t say if this was an improvement of the situation or not. “Nice of you to help me though,” he yawned, “want breakfast?”

“It’s three in the afternoon!” Merle raised an eyebrow, showing him his pocket watch for emphasis.

“Whatever, I need coffee,” Taako said, disappearing in the wagon but leaving the door open. Instead of entering, Merle turned around and sat on the sand on the other side of the counter as Taako took out the utensils he needed to make breakfast.

“Can I ask you a question?” Merle wondered aloud.

Taako didn’t reply, he just shrugged and waited for him to continue.

“Why come here?”

Taako smirked and looked back at Merle for a couple of seconds, before resuming his work, cracking a few eggs, separating the yolk from the whites. “I’m leaving tonight if that makes you feel better.”

“Nah, buddy, I’m ok with you and your cooking was pretty  _ basic _ but damn good. The people around here can be...a  _ little _ distrustful, but I’m not like that.”

“Basic.” Taako repeated, glaring at him. “You’re not from around here?” he asked, nonchalantly, pouring the coffee into a couple of mugs.

“No,” Merle frowned. “Yes?” He looked confused for a moment before shrugging again. “I’ve been away for a while, ended up coming back. There was nothing worthwhile out there apparently.”

Taako leaned over the counter and handed him a mug of coffee that Merle graciously accepted.

“So you ended up with a wife and kid?” he chuckled. They always thought Merle would end up with some kind of plant person or dryad, and then in the last few years everybody had noticed that a thing was going on with Davenport. The rough looking dwarven woman was out of Merle’s league and he evidently wasn’t up to her standards, the match had taken Taako by surprise.

“Yes and no,” Merle, sipping on the coffee, grumbled, confirming Taako’s suspicions. “As I said I’ve been away for a while, so the elder asked I married into his family to have a place to stay. Ended up with Hekuba and her daughter, not the best situation but I’ll deal.”

Taako finished laying out the egg whites and sugar mixture for the meringue and instead of putting them in the oven, wrapped them in fire with a spell and cooked them on the spot. Merle clapped and Taako gave him a little bow.

“You can have these, to thank you for butting in.” He handed him half of the meringues in a small box and started eating one of the remaining sweets.

“It wasn’t about you specifically, you know?” Merle took the gift. “It felt like the right thing to do, that’s all.”

Taako tossed the dirty equipment in his fantasy dishwasher and sat on the counter, looking at the sea where a few fishing boats could be seen on the horizon.

“You know what?” Taako smirked as an idea started forming into his head. “I haven’t surfed in a while.”


	5. not with the eyes, but with the mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Things base and vile, holding no quantity, love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1 Scene 1_

The bog mud played Taako’s stagecoach a bad hand when he returned to the mainland: not only did it prove to be quite hard to remove, but the wood started rotting very quickly once exposed to the open air and the wheels became quickly unusable.

By luck or Istus’ blessing, Taako stumbled upon another coastal town before the wagon collapsed completely, but it was as different from the calm beach village Merle had settled in as it could be. Raven’s Roost was a craggy amalgamate of bridges and ropes threaded between pillars rising from the sea. The wind whispered through the peaks and valleys with a quiet grace. The waves lapped at the base of the spires, and on the warm, blue-skied day when Taako arrived, the only noises came from the ravens circling above, for the sea was too far below for the noise of the waves to reach him.

He left the wagon on the mainland, not daring to bring it on the suspended bridges, although the locals repeatedly assured him they would hold its weight, and went straight for the inn, ordering their strongest ale and asking where he could find a carpenter or handyman to repair the stagecoach.

He was sent to the Hammer and Tongs, on Craftman’s Corridor. A woman, with a sturdy physique and a gentle smile, welcomed him in and introduced himself as Julia _Burnsides_. Taako realized maybe a second too late he let his shock show, because her expression changed as well.

“I’m Taako,” he quickly bowed and painted a smile on his face. “You know, from the Travelling Venue? I am in need of your assistance.”

Julia put a hand on her hip with a wry smirk. “Oh, I know who you are.”

“Do you?” Taako looked up, sounding more hopeful than he wished.

“My father was at one of your shows, a couple of years ago. He’s still talking about it,” she laughed, giving him an intrigued look. “But something tells me you might know my husband, _Magnus_?”

“Nope, never heard before.” Taako said quickly, too quickly, trying not to smile too brightly at the news. Julia narrowed her eyes but sighed and, smiling, walked him into the workshop. _Oh_ , this woman was _smart_ , no wonder Magnus took a liking to her. She wasn’t conventionally beautiful, her face was scarred and her hands rough, but had a certain charm that - indeed - reminded him of Magnus himself.

Seeing Magnus again was brutal: he appeared even rougher than Taako remembered, with several new scars on his arms and even one on his face, cutting through his eyebrow and eyelid - whatever caused that, Magnus had been very lucky he hadn’t lost an eye. His expression was also kinder, more mellow, his hands more precise as he cut the wood with fine instruments too small for his fingers.

He was a boy when he boarded the Starblaster. The Magnus now in front of Taako was a _man_.

Julia called for him and he turned towards them with the biggest smile.

“Taako!” he exclaimed with pure joy as his eyes met the elf’s, and for a moment Taako felt his heart swell with hope. “I’ve heard so much about you!” Magnus continued, shattering the feeble illusion. “Gotta say, Steven was praising you so much when he came back from Neverwinter, I’m tempted to charge you a meal for a job, whatcha say?”

“As long as you don’t bankrupt us,” Julia chuckled, pressed a little kiss on his cheek gently and walked back out. “I’ll let you two discuss the details!”

Taako’s eyes followed the woman as she returned to the front of the shop. “Seems fair to me, m’dude. I’m actually kinda short on cash, so you’d really give me a hand.”

“Whaaaat?” Magnus cried, sincerely surprised. “Well, we’re not rich folks here in Raven’s Roost but damn if we can help a fellow artisan when we need to!” He slammed a huge hand on Taako’s back, almost knocking him face down. “Now, show me what needs to be repaired! I still have about a month before I leave for the carpentry contest!”

“That’s a thing?” Taako scoffed, walking with Magnus outside from a back door.

“Yeah! I am to receive the title of ‘Master Carpenter’,” he announced proudly, puffing out his chest. “This way I’ll deserve to work alongside my father-in-law, and not just as his apprentice!” he enthusiastically explained.

Taako sighed. “I can’t believe you too…”

“Uh?”

Taako waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, it’s classic. All of you guys are getting married, fair enough, you deserve it-” he stopped walking all of a sudden, an infuriating thought wriggling his way into his head. “If Barold remarried I’m gonna murder him.”

Magnus roared with laughter, probably thinking of the latter declaration as a joke.

As they reached the stagecoach parked just beside the huge bridge connecting Raven’s Roost to the mainland, Taako flicked his wrist and dispelled the alarmed barrier he set up to avoid others from approaching the wagon and horses.

“That is a nice piece of work!” Magnus nodded, examining the stagecoach from every angle, caressing the wood and the horses with the same kindness. “It must have been expensive.”

“It was a gift,” Taako shrugged. “Do you think you can fix it in...uhh, a month?”

“Who do you take me for?” Magnus grinned, “A week, at most!”

He’d been looking for them for _years_ and then he found Merle and Magnus almost by chance. Taako was starting to feel quite turned around by fate, but at the same time to see them again, to be able to talk with them - even if they didn’t remember him - was reassuring, warm.

It felt like coming home.

“-ko? Taako?” Magnus’ voice brought him back from his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“I said, if you just want the wheels replaced it’s ok, but you might want a complete overhaul: this is Cloakwood mud, that stuff is _death_ to good wood. You’re gonna have to ask Steven, as I’m busy working on my submission for the contest!”

Taako nodded. “It works. Steven your f-in-law?”

“Yeah man, I _totally_ have to introduce you to him, he’s gonna lose his shit!” He finished examining the wagon. “Bring the horses, there’s a stable next to the workshop where they can rest! What are their names?”

Magnus’ affability and positivity was a breath of fresh air after so many years of fruitless search. As always, he had a way of worming his way into one’s heart that Taako had barely tolerated during the first half of their journey, but came to enjoy during the most difficult times. Even now, when Taako was nothing more than a stranger to him, he kept on being warm and welcoming.

“Lucy and Dave,” Taako grinned. “Named after the person who gifted me the wagon and an old Captain of mine…”

“Captain?” Magnus stared in amazement. “Were you a sailor?” he asked, with the wonder of a child in his voice.

“Something like that,” Taako chuckled. _Interplanar pirates_ , now that was a thought.

“Gotta tell me all about it, man! I have a feeling I’m not gonna get bored in the next few weeks...”

“If only I could, man,” Taako said, barely a whisper, averting his eyes. “If only I could.”

-

Taako had already noticed Julia was smarter than she appeared. He realized the woman was looking in his direction more often than not as he spent time talking with Magnus, hearing tales about the rebellion and how Raven’s Roost became the flourishing town it was.

One day, she caught up to him as he was tending to the horses in the stable. He nodded at her but avoided making eye contact as she approached and started grooming the second horse.

“You and Mag go back.” She suddenly broke the ice, a small sad smile painted on his lips.

Taako just stared at her for a long time, before she giggled and explained herself. “He’s never been mistrustful, but he’s not one to be so warmly open with strangers, _especially_ with elves.”

Taako scoffed, “It doesn’t mean anything, he’s just not racist apparently.”

Julia laughed, the same kind of roaring warm laughter Magnus had. _They really fit each other, didn’t they_ , he thought with a small smile on his lips.

“Still,” she sighed, shifting to a more serious expression. “I’ve known Magnus for years and he’s alright now but when that woman brought him to Raven’s Roost he was...confused.”

Taako stopped moving and looked up, his face blank. _That woman_ , did she mean Lucretia?

“He’s vague when talking about his past, remembers his parents but not where they live, how or why he arrived here...I’m no spellcaster but there _must_ be some kind of curse or memory spell on him.”

“Oh,” Taako felt a bitter choked laugh rise up from his throat. “ _lle're quel_ ,” he muttered under his breath.

Julia looked back at him with a satisfacted smirk.

“You’re a wizard and you obviously know him and he knew you...” Julia sighed, suddenly serious and shifting to talk in a lower tone. “Please, help him.”

“I’m-” Taako’s smile fell, he looked away then took a deep breath and flashed her one of his best studied showman smiles. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 _Wrong answer_.

Julia glared at him, not fooled at all. “You’re going to stay here a while. Understand this: I love Mag and I’d do everything for him, if you think reminding him of his past would _hurt_ him then just tell me.” She kept approaching Taako while she spoke. “But don’t lie to me,” she smiled, tapping her own nose. “I have a sense for lies.”

Taako sighed and smiled back at her, more honestly this time. “It’s not that it would hurt him. Maybe? Maybe not. But it’s not a spell, it’s _something different_ , and I’m immune for some reason but I don’t know how to _fix_ this.” The torrent of words kept flowing out of his mouth without control. He never talked about this to _anyone_ , he wasn’t sure how to do it, where ti start.

Lucy the horse shifted uncomfortably under Taako’s hands he realized he’d unconsciously dug his nails in the animal’s back.

Julia put a hand on his shoulder and gently wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you for being honest. It’s obvious you care for Mag as well.”

Taako stood still, not hugging her back.

“Thank _you_.”


	6. out of house and home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It is more than for some, my lord; it is for all I have. He hath eaten me out of house and home. He hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Act 2 Scene 1_

Governor Kalen swore revenge on the city that insulted and trampled on his authority from the very moment Magnus Burnsides  _ forgave _ him and let him go, commanding him to run away as far as he could from Raven’s Roost.

And Kalen obeyed, he fled, the sounds of celebration behind him as pleasant as nails on a slate. He retreated in one of his many establishment, his reputation destroyed but his wealth largely unharmed, and started plotting the proper revenge against the city that dared to step on him.

His opportunity finally came when one of his spies still residing in the city brought him the news regarding a certain stagecoach appearing on the outskirts of Raven’s Roost. Kalen was a man of the world, not quite a nobleman  _ yet _ but he’d started to ingratiate himself with rich folks and showmen alike. And Taako was a showman, alright, one loved by the common crowds.

The perfect bait.

-

Against all self preservation instincts and common sense, Taako decided to stay in Raven’s Roost after the repairs ended. Despite the heavy discount Magnus insisted on giving him, the repair job had cost Taako almost every single gold piece he had left. Even with the fixed stagecoach it was unwise to return on the road, and also the Burnsides welcomed him warmly, so he had no reason to leave.

He knew he couldn’t stay, though: Lup, Barry and Davenport were still out in the world somewhere and he  _ needed  _ to find them as soon as possible. Magnus and Julia saw his nervousness escalate from a series of small attitudes or quirks as he started to feel more trapped.

And then one day, all of a sudden, this changed. Roughly 24 hours before Magnus was supposed to leave for Neverwinter, Taako suddenly brought his stagecoach through the bridges up to the central square of Craftman’s Corridor and started plastering the city with posters advertising a “mega event” of Sizzle it up with Taako.

“I’ve got a patron!” he laughed, when the two of them asked what was up. Some rich merchant happened to see him at the inn and apparently offered to pay for the expenses of the show if he hosted one in Craftman’s Corridor for his nephew, having him sit on the front line and cooking his favourite casserole.

Magnus didn’t look as happy as Taako expected him to be and he had a reason to.

“What merchant? What was his name?”

Taako shrugged, “Gregory or some shit. I don’t know Mags, I’m just glad I got the chance to earn a bunch of GPs, you get me?”

“And show off,” Magnus huffed. “Seriously, you should be more careful of who you accept money from.”

Taako frowned and faced Magnus, arms crossed. “Way to spoil the fun, Mango. Can’t you just  _ pretend _ to be happy for me?”

“Boys…” Julia calmly called, before the discussion could devolve into an argument.

Magnus went back to work on his chair, and after a moment of hesitation Taako just walked out, focused on delivering the rest of the fliers advertising for his show.

Surprising both Magnus and Julia, the elf returned the next morning to wave Magnus off. He wasn’t above apologizing, apparently, although he looked a bit bitter that Magnus would miss his big show.

“I can’t exactly wait until next year for the contest,” Magnus laughed, patting a hand on his shoulder. Taako flinched but didn’t shy off when Magnus pulled him into a hug. “Amaze them.”

Taako snorted. “Obviously.” He wriggled free and dramatically crossed his arms, just as Julia walked out of the house. “‘Cha’boy isn’t gonna wait for you to shine, there’s not even gonna be scraps left when you’re back.”

Julia giggled as Magnus hugged and kissed her. “Good luck,” she said.

“I love you Jules. See you soon, Taako.”

And with that, he was gone. His small wagon pulled by a mule, wooden chair fixed with rope so it wouldn’t budge, he crossed the bridges and took the road to Neverwinter.

“Don’t be mad,” Julia told Taako as they watched Magnus’ wagon disappear in the forest.

“’m not mad.”

Julia smacked him lightly in the head. “Of course you are. Are you excited for tomorrow’s show?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m all about it-” he deadpanned, fidgeting with his hat. Steven smiled at the two of them from his working stand, but didn’t intervene.

“Taako?” Julia called, inviting him to look up at her, and smiled fondly. “You’re gonna be great.”

-

The boy who introduced himself as the merchant’s nephew was a shy teenager wrapped in rich purple garments that looked just slightly too big for him. Julia gave him a weird look and sat beside him in the front line as Taako prepped the stage. Steven helped selling the tickets, while friends of his - soldiers of the rebellion - were scattered around the square to keep an eye on eventual suspicious events.

Taako bluntly ignored all of this, focusing on himself, reveling in the delighted shouts of the large crowd, their smiles and their eyes pointed on him. Taako belonged on the stage and that was all that mattered.

The first explosion shook the ground like an ominous warning. The soldiers started to move, the smiles disappeared and the screams of delight turned into terror and commotion and Taako just stood there, paralyzed in confusion and fear as the ground under their feet started cracking and breaking apart and they were falling and-

What could he do? He frantically lunged forward, out of the stagecoach, knocking over pots and pans he’d been delicately handling up to moments earlier. Julia saw him and, holding the boy - as terrified as her - close to her chest, she stretched an arm towards Taako just as the sound of multiple distant explosions enveloped them and the ground crumbled to dust.

Taako wasn’t used to feeling so  _ fucking  _ powerless, these people were there  _ because of him _ .  _ They were going to die _ because of him.

_ No fucking way in hell _ .

He reached deep, deep down inside of himself, tapping into his very Arcane essence and cast a spell he only ever  _ heard of _ before then, only read about, knowing full well he didn’t have the power or strength to sustain it.

And time came to a stop.

This spell was supposed to only last twelve seconds. Maybe less, since Taako was already pushing himself to the limit. That wasn't enough time to save everyone, he knew, but he had to try. He focused on Julia first, she was Magnus' wife,  _ he wasn’t gonna let her die _ . He cast Feather Fall on her, then himself, then the boy.   
He still had spell slots left,  _ thank the gods _ . He started reaching out, casting it on anyone close enough, whoever he could find.    
He didn't have enough. He quickly ran out of spell slots, the Time Stop spell timed out, and everything surged back into motion. He watched in horror as the pillar of stone holding Craftman’s Corridor crumbled, crashing into the merciless waves below.

Taako expected exhaustion, dizziness or even a backlash from casting that spell. Instead, as he descended slowly, holding tightly to Julia, he only felt slightly nauseous for the horror he just witnessed. He expected to cry or laugh from the ridiculousness of him not realizing he got a 9th level spell slot sometime in the last 5 years of practice.

But his face remained blank as they landed softly on the rocks, seawater tinted red from the blood of dozens of victims.

-

As soon as the immediate shock passed, Julia and the few survivors discovered that someone had been affixing bombs to the stone pillar and detonated them as soon as the crowd gathered.

The boy had been hired by the very Governor Kalen to pose as the merchant’s - also a hired actor - son. He’d employed them for the singular purpose of  _ eradicating _ the townsmen who defied him.

A small positive note came from the boy’s testimony - Kalen never expected him to survive -, that proved substantial when the Neverwinter Militia arrived to investigate and Governor Kalen lost everything, including his wealth, to be escorted to the capital and sentenced to death.

Most of Raven’s Roost was still standing, but as almost every citizen had attended Taako’s show, a great number of houses were now empty. The rest just left, looking for a place to live that was far away from the city where their families and loved ones lost their lives.

Magnus came back, as planned, oblivious to the whole story until he got to the main bridge.

The first person to recognise Magnus was the innkeeper, who immediately brought him to his place. Despite the warm atmosphere and the late hour, the tavern was completely empty save for a familiar figure sitting alone in a corner, head bowed down and hands clasped upon the table.

“Taako!” Magnus cried as he run towards him. “What-”

Taako looked up and smiled  _ only with his lips _ , his eyes as blank and lifeless as when Lu̢p̶̶ d̨ie͠ḑ̶͡ ̷͠f͟o̢ŗ̢͜ t̕͡h̢͏e͡ ͟͡f͡i̕r̕͢st̷͝ ͢͡t͜͟i̢̨͟m͏҉͢e̡ ͞ǫ̶n̴͏ ̶̢̧C̕y̡͟͠c҉l͜e͏͟ ͡4҉. Magnus knew that look with a dreadful familiarity and fear started to creep into his heart for a moment until the backdoor slammed open and  _ Julia _ ran into his arms, looking tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days, with dark bags under her eyes and tousled hair, but undeniably  _ relieved _ .

“What happened?” Magnus asked, in a state of stupor.

“I gathered them there,” Taako’s voice was faint and brimming with despair. “I baited them to their death.”

Julia gripped on Magnus’ clothes, shaking her head and speaking just one word. “Kalen.”

Magnus’ face twisted in an anger so unnatural on his features, as he moved to bolt towards the entrance. Once again, Julia stopped him. “He’s already on his way to the Neverwinter to be executed. It’s over,” she sighed, looking at the floor “it’s really over now.”

Magnus embraced her once again, looking up at Taako with an expression that betrayed his conflicting emotion. “How many survivors?”

“Too few,” Taako replied. “I cast Feather Fall on us as the bombs went off, but there wasn’t enough time.” He dropped his face in his palms. “Gods, I drew in all those people, they weren’t meant to be there if not for my-”

“No!” Magnus and Julia cried simultaneously. “Taako, Taako, look at me.” Magnus leaned down on the table. “This. Was. Not. Your. Fault.” He stressed each word poking a finger in Taako’s chest, before grabbing his arm to drag him on his feet and hug him too.

“This was not your fault.”

And for some reason, at least this time, Taako believed him; and a previously shattered Bond started stitching itself back together.


	7. lovers cannot see

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I am glad ’tis night, you do not look on me, for I am much ashamed of my exchange. But love is blind, and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit, for if they could Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformed to a boy._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 6_

For Taako, home was never a constant, instead  _ constants _ became home. Home was laughing with Lup and waking up in the morning with their limbs tangled, home was Aunt Tilla’s recipes cooked and recreated in a thousand variants with what ingredients they could get their hands on. Home became a silver ship and the assurance that after a year everything would be reset, Magnus’ wooden ducks, the eerie sound of Lucretia writing simultaneously with both hands, Merle’s dad jokes, Barry’s experiments and scientific rambles.

Life on the Starblaster was constantly different, there were bad years and good years, there were constant and variables and  _ changes  _ had become something the whole crew needed to avoid succumbing to cabin fever. Taako spent the first couple of decades with Lup, then moved in with Magnus, then with Barry,  _ a few months with Merle _ before realizing it was the worst mistake he ever made and again with Lup. Then, Lup and Barry became a thing, Magnus and Lucretia became a thing and even Merle and the Captain were together most of the time, so for the last few Cycles, Taako got his own room and started to get used to having his own space.

Then, everyone was gone and for five years, Taako got used to being on his own with an unsettling ease. Sure, he missed his family and especially  _ Lup _ but of all the members of the crew, he was the one most likely to work solo, in his own space, and the years of the show certainly helped him to get used to the situation.

Staying in Raven’s Roost for a month made him  _ tense _ like a fiddle string, antsy, itching for change, for movement; a feeling contrasting with the fact that being with Julia and Magnus made him feel  _ at home _ after such a long time. When he got the loan from the mysterious merchant he took it without a second thought as he saw in it a way to get away from there... _ and how he regretted it later _ .

And yet, weeks later, when he left Raven’s Roost to continue his search, not alone but with the two people who had - newly and again - become part of his  _ home _ , he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over how  _ glad  _ he was that the situation turned that way.

Sizzlin’ it Up with Taako never did restart: he didn’t have enough money to buy another stagecoach like the one that got  _ crushed _ and most of the equipment and utensils were unique as they _ came from his original plane _ . The loss was more than he could ever explain.

And explaining was quite the effort too. He described the people he was looking for, keeping the details as vague as possible to avoid Fisher’s static to kick in. And yet, Magnus and Julia understood immediately the most important thing: that the people Taako was looking for were  _ family _ .

And the three of them took off on the road together: a chuck wagon was the only thing they could afford and they scraped what money they could find offering their expertise in cities as artisans or adventurers. And they made sure to take the jobs that would bring them into dungeons and caves Taako hadn’t explored yet, to favor his own search.

Taako would hardly admit it, especially after the Raven’s Roost massacre, but this was easily the happiest period of his life since the Starblaster. He was a third wheel more than often, but he didn’t mind: he’d rather leave Magnus and Julia their space and wander around towns and markets to collect information, if he could be sure they were going to wait for him to come back.

And finally, at the end of the sixth year after what he’d come to call the Day of the Forgetting, he found Barry.

He was in Neverwinter again, so long after his first show and yet people still recognized him, asking for his autographs and when the show was coming back: rather than dealing with them, Taako made an habit of walking around hiding his face, dyeing his hair and even wasting Disguise Self spells at the worst times.  _ He absolutely hated hiding from his fans, _ but at the same time didn’t want to deal with the crowds.

At the Neverwinter market, he found himself browsing a hunter’s stand when two young human academics, clad in the black and silver-rimmed robes of the high class university passed by him joking about “something professor Hallwinter would wear.”

“No wonder the headmaster calls him  _ Bluejeans _ .”

Taako jolted and immediately ran in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. “ _ Barry _ Bluejeans?” he asked, with a serious expression. The two stared back in confusion before bursting out in a fit of giggles, “Now, that’s one hell of a nickname!” one of them laughed.

Taako buried his face in the large scarf he’d wrapped around his neck. “I’m looking for someone with that name,” he explained quietly, now increasingly embarrassed by the situation.

“Don’t think it’s a  _ name _ , sir,” one of them replied first. “But Professor Hallwinter always wears those blue denim abominations, it earned him quite the nickname.”

“Hallwinter…” Taako repeated, now that he heard it a few times it started to sound familiar. An horrible doubt started creeping in the back of his mind. “ _ It was a fucking nickname _ ?!” he hissed through gritted teeth, wishing he could just go and bang his head against the wall.

His reaction and expression only caused more hilarity in the two of them. “It would be great if there was an actual person called like that!” one laughed.

“We should introduce them to the professor!” the second nodded.

Taako groaned and rolled his eyes. “You keep saying professor, what does this guy teach?” Barry as a university professor wasn’t unlikely, but there was still a chance this whole thing was a mix-up and there was another guy wearing  _ denim abominations  _ in Faerun.

“He’s the Theoretical Necromantic Studies lecturer.”

Nope.  _ Nope _ . Definitely Barry.

“ _ A hundred fucking years and he was using a nickname… _ ” Taako hid his face in his hands, then took a deep breath, fixed his hat and scarf and grinned at the two of them, putting a hand on the youngest looking one’s shoulder. “I want to meet this guy.”

-

Taako walked to the university building the two academics pointed him towards, wearing a full black spy ensemble, complete with wide brimmed hat and sunglasses. When Julia and Magnus had seen him change into that, they had had a brief argument on the meaning of the word  _ inconspicuous _ . Taako had won.

He slipped in the classroom from the back, barely able to see the teaching post. A Mage Hand was writing with a chalk on a very large black slate, the classroom wasn’t big and there was a decent number of students attending so it was pretty crowded. The lecturer was speaking softly, but probably enhancing his voice with a spell, because Taako could hear it pretty clearly. He couldn’t suppress a wild grin behind his scarf when he recognized Barry’s voice.

“...so basically, we consider souls as what make a person  _ a person _ and so...bodies are  _ technically  _ empty vessels...”

A loud cough caught Taako’s attention and his eyes focused on a tall human man with an angular face, grey hair and a frown that seemed to be sculpted on his owl-like gaunt features. He was wearing somber grey garments with an embroidered symbol of scales held by a skeletal hand and a bastard sword at his hip glowed with divine energy.

_ Ouch _ , it probably wasn’t great for Barry to be anywhere near that.

“... _ but of course _ death is sacred and all that,” Barry quickly added. “Which brings us back to the topic of Resurrection on contrast to the rising of Undead or Thralls…”

Taako wriggled through the crowd, a few shouts of protest rising from the students, and he finally manage to get to the front.

Taako knew humans aged quickly. Seeing Magnus again was a painful reminder of that, and in the last few years since they started travelling together, he saw time creeping fast on their features. Then again, Magnus and Julia were still on their prime. When Barry joined the IPRE he was almost a good decade older than Magnus and Lucretia but  _ now _ , only 6 years since Taako had seen him last, he had to take a second look because Barry was  _ different _ . He didn’t only look older, with more than a few grey hair on its head, and fatter. He was pale, unhealthy looking, and tired, he’d obviously let himself go in the past few years.

It was a pitiful and  _ enraging _ sight.

Barry wasn’t even looking at the students as he talked, a small halfling assistant wrote notes on the chalkboard as he read from a stack of books, glancing at the frowning man now and then. The lecture went on for another 10 minutes or so, before a loud bell outside announced midday. Barry wrapped it up as the students started leaving.

Taako stood exactly where he was, even as the classroom emptied. Barry kept not looking up, so instead the first one to notice the weirdly garbed elf was the gaunt holy man. “Yes, do you need anything?” he asked.

“Nah, m’man, your boy Taako was just hoping to exchange a few words with  _ professor Bluejeans  _ here.” Taako unwrapped his scarf and flipped up the shades, exposing his face. If the cleric recognized him he didn’t show, and everybody else had already left. “Heard about your expertise with Necromancy. Shit, man, why are you here getting bossed around by this owlish looking fellow? There’s plenty of interesting jobs for Necromancers, did you know that the Militia is looking for people to Resurrect victims and ask about the details of their own death?”

The cleric immediately stepped forward, he was  _ really  _ tall for a human, towering over Taako imposingly. “That’s an horrifyingly disgusting rumor and you should be ashamed for believing that our esteemed Militia would go against the will of the Gods.”

Taako was completely unfazed. “Dude,” he stepped sideways to bring himself in front of Barry, who had just finished putting his books in a pile. “I also know there’s a time limit and that they use True Resurrection so calm your tits.”

Barry finally let out a small chuckle and looked up, as soon as his eyes focused on Taako, though, his smile fell and his face froze in something akin to an astonished horror.

“Lup?”

Taako’s smile fell as well, before an even larger grin started spreading on his face and he immediately ran towards him,  _ leaning _ even over the lecturer’s desk. “Oh, Barry, Barold, BJ, of course  _ you haven’t forgotten Lup _ , you fucking amazing human being!”

Barry gasped and opened his mouth a few times before he actually was able to make words come out. “I...you’re not...she’s  _ real _ ?”

Taako scoffed,  _ it was too good to be true _ , but still better than he ever hoped. “Of course she’s real, you big dumbo, she’s my̵ ҉tw̧i̡n͜ ̵s̴i͠st̵er̨!”

Barry blinked, frowned and shook his head. “The mist…” he mumbled, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Your...what?”

_ Mist _ ? That’s what he was calling the voidfish’s static? Interesting, how and where had he heard that before? “It would be pointless to,” Taako sighed. “She’s...related to me. Can you understand that?”

“Excuse me?” the cleric stepped forward. “ _ What _ are you talking about?”

“Private stuff,  _ hó _ , why don’t you like, scoot over and let us have a conversation like the adults we are?”

“My name,” the cleric said through his teeth, “is Benadryl Cromslorcob, paladin and cleric of Kelemvor Lyonsbane, Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned, and you will pay respect to me as per my position."

Taako proceeded to make - while completely stone faced - a sound like a toad had been stuck in his throat, immediately followed by a quiet, muffled, "Cromslum..."

Barry snorted too, as the cleric’s expression started to become increasingly enraged.

“Why the fuck are you even here for, Crumbslord?” Taako managed to ask once he was sure he wasn’t gonna burst out laughing every time he opened his mouth.

“I supervise this man’s work.” He recomposed himself and pointed at Barry. “Since some his students  _ happened _ to perform some minor level necromancy after his lectures, the church of Kelemvor put me to oversee his lectures.”

“ _ Lamya ve' y' awra _ .”

“ _ Ro naa _ ,” Barry replied, without missing a beat.

Taako grinned, “Your accent is still awful, Barold, but you’re getting there. And to conclude this,” he turned to the cleric for the last time. “I’m not a student  _ or _ a necromancer, I’m a transmutation specialist and you’d better get out before I True Polymorph you into a frog, asshole.”

Barry came to his aid, “He’s right, Ben, lecture is over, please go before I inform the church you’re overstepping your boundaries.”

Muttering a string of curses under his breath, the man walked out of the door, glaring at the two of them. Barry finally let out a sigh of relief and, as the holy symbol left his sight, color started to return to his face. “Look, I don’t know you- or more likely I do but I forgot, like everything else- anyway, thanks there.”

“Fucking A, Barold. The other two were completely oblivious, but look at you!” Taako started gesticulating at Barry’s general area. “Realizing you’ve forgotten stuff,  _ not forgetting Lup _ ; this is awesome! What  _ do _ you remember about her?” he jumped on the desk and sit in front of Barry as he slumped into his chair.

“Not much more than her name,” he sighed, “I dream about her but I can never focus on her face, well not until…” he looked up at Taako and the elf knew he was trying to get through whatever layer of static the amnesia had put on his mind. “She...looks like you?” Barry squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “She’s disappearing if I’m not making an effort…” he trailed off, eyes staring at nothing. “I’ve known for a long time that there’s something wrong with my memory. I had experts look at me but to no avail and I was starting to think she was just a fantasy of mine…”

“She is  _ not _ a fantasy. She’s real, she’s somewhere and I swear we’re going to find her.” Taako said, suddenly serious. He’d been looking for her for so long, and he  _ was _ about to give up before he met the two men that got him to find Barry again.

He couldn’t stop. Not now.

After a minute or so of silence, Taako jumped back down on his feet, picked up the hat from the ground where it fell earlier as he moved through the crowd, and walked towards the exit.

“Wait!” Barry called, rustling in his pockets to find a Stone of Farspeech that he handed to Taako. “I have resources, here at the University, you- you remember everything I don’t, and if we work together…”

Taako hesitated, but he still grabbed the stone. “Lup is gonna kill me if I drag you into danger, but this works. Thanks, Barold.” He said, softly. This meant he got a chance to keep in contact with him without arousing suspicions and he  _ needed  _ his family back in his life.

“You’re welcome, Taako,” Barry smiled back, hopeful and bright as he probably hadn’t been for  _ years _ .

This was  _ right _ .

They were almost there.


	8. never doubt I love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2_

Sildar Hallwinter woke up in the morning with an inexplicable sense of loss weighing on his heart like a bad dream. It was the echoes of  _ good dreams _ that actually made it worse.

One one hand, he had everything a man could wish for: a secure job, a prestigious position at the Neverwinter University, the reputation of a man of integrity and the mind of a genius. Even the Sterling family, the very rulers of Neverwinter, the most powerful family in the world, held him in high esteem after his knowledge of magical artifacts allowed a foreign spy to be discovered just in time before a planned assassination. This benevolence resulted in them covering his more morally ambiguous experiments, in an arrangement that benefitted both parties.

On the other he just knew,  _ from the very first moment he woke up in Neverwinter _ , alone, that  _ something had been taken from him _ . The weight of a  _ love _ and a  _ loss _ that shaped and defined him had left in its place a  _ hole _ , an agonizing emptiness blazing inside his soul: he was missing someone, he was  _ supposed  _ to look for them, and yet had absolutely nowhere to start.

And other than that, Sildar - and how  _ wrong  _ it felt to think of himself with that name - was a clever man: it didn’t take him long to realize he remembered his parents but not where they were buried or the name of the town he grew up in, he loved swimming but didn’t remember who taught him - the first thing that came to mind was  _ brother, _ but he had always been an only child.

When his students asked him what got him into something so frowned upon like the necromantic arts, his mind defaulted to static, trying to grasp at strands of memories slipping through his fingers. He recalled going to lectures - but he’d never been to Neverwinter before-, stacks of books and a purpose, an objective he’d been murdering his social life studying for.

These thoughts gnawed at him every single day. Kept him up at night, staring into the light of the small candle he kept by his bedside, watching it slowly be consumed. Normally the candle was a comfort - he'd originally bought it to keep his fear of the dark at bay - but now it was nothing more than a distraction. Whatever it was he was missing, knowing it was missing was keeping him from finding any satisfaction, no matter how simple the pleasure.

_ She  _ had become his obsession, a faceless, nameless woman whose laugh still echoed in the empty chambers of his mind.

He started seeing experts, but they shook their heads, tried to convince him he was following a fantasy, an ideal of love. He started seeking the help of  _ seers _ but they couldn’t see past a veil of confusion that enveloped them too.

It was a student of his that pointed him towards someone who lived all the way down on skid row: Sildar put on a Cloak of Mislead and wandered the slums near The Chasm to find a witch who, they said, could dive deep into one’s memories.

As he opened the soggy and grimy curtains of the tent, he found himself standing in front of a very old gnome woman, wrapped in layers and tattered clothes, whose leathery grey skin cracked with deep wrinkles and laughter lines around two brilliant and still young black eyes. She smiled when he approached, exposing black gums holding just a couple of teeth. “Come in, Barry,” she croaked, and he complied.

Barry. It had been such a long time since anyone called him Barry. His family called him Darry and it was mispelled on his door a͡t͜ t̷h̸e̶ ͠I̢PRȨ d̡o҉r̴mitory so everyone started to call him…

Who was  _ everyone _ ?

Before he could get lost in a daze trying to recall those seemingly inaccessible memories, he shook his head and focused on the old gnome, sitting in front of her. “Are you Buffin, the Witch of the Chasm? How do you know-”

“I listen, boy,” she interrupted, pouring some hot black liquid in a couple of cups. Barry gagged when the sharp smell reached his nostrils. “I listen to what people won’t say, and can’t say. I hear all the whispers of the heart and guide those who get lost in them towards their right path. This is the power the Lady Istus bestowed on me.”

Barry shifted, trying to find a comfortable position on the moldy rug he was sitting on. “I think my problem is more memory related than des-”

“I know exactly why you’re here,” Buffin handed him one of the cups holding the black concoction. He reluctantly accepted it. “Do you think you’re the first to come to me to ask for answers for questions you can’t even remember?” she asked again, Barry stared at her, holding the cup as far away from his face as possible without being rude. “This country, this  _ world  _ is  _ sick _ , it has been for a short time. We lost so much and we can’t even remember them.”

Barry nodded slowly. For some reason, knowing he wasn’t the only one washed with some sort of  _ relief _ over him.

“But the dead should know, the dead should remember. And yet you seem to be more oblivious than many…” she grinned eerily.

Barry looked down at his pudgy, bespectacled self, shooting a weirded out look at the gnome witch. Barry’s specialization in the arcane arts was - to the surprise of anyone who’d ever asked - necromancy: the study of the very energy binding and forming  _ life _ . It fascinated him  _ endlessly _ and yet, he never pushed himself beyond the limit of common sense, he never raised undead  _ people  _ and strolled  _ very far _ from the various cults forming in the city’s underground. He was pretty sure he wasn’t a zombie or some kind of thrall, although he never really experimented to see whether it was true, it just didn’t make any sense. “I can assure you I am very much alive, thank you.”

“Oh? You can?” she giggled, making a sound like falling gravel. “Have you ever heard the tale of the Fog?”

“No?” Barry said slowly, starting to wonder if it had really been such a good idea to come to see this person. But he was a patient person, he’d listen, he’d come back several times if necessary. He was ready to walk circles around this woman’s riddles. “I haven’t.”

Buffin opened her mouth and suddenly the few sounds coming from outside the tent - the steps on the sidewalk, the bells from the temple down the road, the praying voices of the beggars - stopped. The voice she spoke with was not her own, but deeper and echoing like multiple voices in a distant cave.

“ _ When the fog came to our town, we heeded the warnings and gathered every day to count our numbers. _ __   
_ How proud we were after a week with no one taken. _ __   
_ How proud after a year with all of us accounted for. _ __   
_ It was only when the fog cleared that we looked out at our proud town and saw too many empty homes. _ _   
_ __ It was only then that we began to realize the fog had not spared us. We had simply forgotten the ones it took .”

Even the incense smoke seemed to sit still as she finished, staring deep into the soul of the man in front of her.

“Ok?” Barry asked, a little confused and weirded out.

When she spoke again, it was with her normal, raspy voice. “I cannot bring back the memory of your loved ones,” she explained, “but I can guide you to those empty houses in your mind.” She grinned. “For an adequate price.”

Barry sighed.  _ Of course _ that was what everything came down to, in the end. He dug through his pockets and managed to get together 40 pieces of silver, which he tossed hastily on the small table between the two of them. Buffin counted them patiently and slipped them into a leather bag she hid away in her clothes. When she was done, without much ado, she set up a spell, chanting some kind of invocation and lighting up a stick of incense that made Barry’s eyelids fall heavily.

He wasn’t sleepy, just couldn’t bring himself to speak or open his eyes, the woman’s garbled words turning into flickering lights beyond his closed eyes. The dirge grew louder, wrapping around him and suddenly Barry saw himself, wrapped in bright red garments, surrounded by an open sky and standing on...the floor and the building around him looked like an ever moving pattern of random flickering black and white dots that made his head hurt to look at. Barry focused on his past self, who was concentrated on some kind of map at first, then growing confused and then panicked as he grabbed his head  _ and started to forget _ .

“Barold?”

A voice made Barry turn around and he saw his past self do the same to face...to face…

It was an elf, that much he could tell, but his face, his features were wrapped in the same weird snow that enveloped their surroundings.

The Barry of the past spoke again, “I’m - oh, Gods, I can’t-I-is this Fisher? I can’t remember her  _ face _ , Taako.”

Barry felt a bucket of cold water being thrown on his head.  _ This was it _ , this was when he forgot  _ her _ .  _ Please, give her back, give her back to me _ .

The elf’s face was still wrapped in that moving pattern that made his features undistinguishable. “Whose face?”

The other Barry looked up in panic, an exclamation stuck in his throat becoming a rasping wail. “I don’t want to forget her, I don’t want to- we were  _ looking _ for- for-”

“Lup?”

And everything faded to black.

-

Barry came back to his senses and found himself prone on the disgusting moldy rug in Buffin’s tent. The gnome was drinking from the cup of black liquid she handed him earlier and looking at him with a smug expression. Barry’s head was spinning, pinpricks of sweat constellating his skin, when he made an effort to sit up straight.

The vision was hazy but not fading, he’d found what the witch had called an  _ empty house _ , a piece of his memory highlighting the missing pieces.

And her name wasn’t one of them.

“Lup,” Barry said, and immediately tears started flowing down his cheeks.  _ Saying her name felt so right _ . He said it again, softly, repeatedly, clenching his fists and just crying out in joy in that small tent in the slums of Neverwinter.

There was still a hole in his heart but now that hole had a name. And her name belonged to him again.

“Well, well. The Fog is particularly strong in your mind, but I still think you found your empty house…” Buffin croaked, cracking a smile when Barry seemed to have calmed down.

“I have,” he confirmed, his voice breaking with a joy and hope he hadn’t felt in a very long time. “I know her name,” he added, but he had found more than he realized. He’d known her, he’d loved her.

And he was going to find her.

-

“Yes, do you need anything?”

Barry was used to students, academics or simply interested specialists staying after his lectures to ask any sort of questions. He’d usually answer them with excitement, but after the  _ morgue accident _ , the university stuck that stupid grumpy cleric to him and Barry was quickly losing his enthusiasm for teaching. Even without considering that Barry felt inexplicably  _ sick _ every time the man was close to him.

_ This guy _ , though, was standing his ground and his replies even ripped a small laughter out of Barry’s throat as he looked up to see  _ a strikingly familiar elf  _ looking down on him. And not familiar in the sense he had seen him before, Barry knew this was a stranger and yet  _ and yet _ his mind immediately defaulted him to  _ family _ .

“Lup?” he said, before he could stop himself. It was stupid, this couldn’t be Lup, why did he even say that? Before he could apologize, though, the elf was  _ beaming _ and leaning over the counter, his face  _ not wrapped in static anymore _ , his eyes shining with a joy Barry had nothing to compare to.

“Oh, Barry, Barold, BJ, of course  _ you haven’t forgotten Lup _ , you fucking amazing human being!” He cried, and Barry’s heart swelled with a joy and trepidation and  _ relief _ .

No, this wasn’t her, but he was  _ close _ .

He was  _ real _ ,  _ fucking _ close.


	9. we three meet again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 1_

“So Barry, are ghosts real?” Magnus wondered, not completely serious.

The thing Taako loved about Barry Bluejeans is that he was anything but the kind of man you’d assume he was from a look. He looked pudgy and harmless while probably one of the most powerful  _ undead _ sorcerers he ever met, he looked mature and composed when he could be a sassy jerk if he wanted, he looked quiet and shy  _ but give him a couple of glasses of ale _ and he was a party animal.

“One time,” Barry stood up and announced, like he was giving off a lecture, he looked serious but he was positively tipsy, “I did have a sexual experience with a ghoul.”

Taako snorted loudly, Magnus’ face contracted like he was trying his best not to laugh like his wife had been doing uninterrupted for the past 15 minutes. It was Julia’s birthday and they decided to simply celebrate by opening a tab in a tavern called the Bear’s Paw.

Barry was unfazed, he finished drinking and stared at the empty glass. “And when I tasted this ale it gave me time to think about all my sexual ghoul experience was…”

Magnus snorted and lost his composure, burying his face in his hands as he exploded into a fit of giggles.

“Is a ghoul a ghost?” Taako chuckled, egging him on.

“That’s another great question!” Barry exclaimed, slamming the empty glass down. Julia was laughing so hard there were actual tears in her eyes.

“There’s so much we don’t know!” Magnus exclaimed, throwing his head back and his hands to the sky.

“’Cause I definitely had a  _ sexual ghoul experience _ !” Barry continued, with the lost expression of a man who  _ had seen things _ .

Julia and Magnus leaned on each other, laughing like madmen. Taako was just shaking his head in fake disappointment at this point.

“And I’m still trying to get to the bottom of  _ it _ like that ghoul got to the bottom of  _ me _ !”

-

It was Taako’s biggest success to have been able to make Barry and Magnus be friends again. There was the initial skepticism on both sides. Magnus thought they came from different backgrounds that were far too different: one an artisan and revolutionary, the other an academic in the high society, while Barry knew he was  _ supposed to know this person _ and yet he didn’t. Taako, however, knew that good food and good alcohol made all people a family, so he pushed Magnus and Julia to stay in Neverwinter, inviting Barry to join them for dinner or outings more often than not.

And while they were getting closer as people, Barry and Taako had fallen back into a  _ painfully _ familiar routine as they rebuilt the map - with many more red crosses - and continued their search for Lup. Barry gathered information and Taako spent his time adventuring or joining adventuring parties to scour caves and dungeons.

Spring that year had been very humid, which left Taako helping Magnus and Julia by transmuting the wood they needed to do their job – the high humidity meant a lot of rotting wood problems and subsequent carpentry requests, but also very little dry wood at their disposal – when Barry frantically called him back to the university.

Quickly, and without much explanation, he was dragged up to the labs until they were in front of a young drow girl, wearing a white coat and black suit with a spider web embroidery.

“Liza?” Barry called her. She lifted her head from her work and Taako realized that her whole desk was full of glass cages containing multiple insects, but mostly spiders.

“Good morning, brofezor,” she smiled brightly, “how can I help you?” Liza spoke with an odd accent and a lilt not completely dissimilar from Taako’s own.

Barry stepped aside, letting her see Taako properly. “This is Taako, the transmutation specialist I told you about.”

Taako frowned briefly, where was Barry going with this? He still smiled politely and tipped his hat at her

“Oh, ja, I'fe heard apout you!” she nodded enthusiastically. “I'm ein transmutazion visard as vell, I'm rezearching ein method to create ein armored fiper from sbiter veps!” She explained.

“That’s...cool?” Taako said, dumbfounded and pretty much wondering what in the name of sanity was a  _ sbiter vep _ .

Barry cleared his throat, politely interrupting her. “Liza, could you tell him what you said to me this morning?”

“Ja, of courze? Put as I zaid, it's all zird hand informazion,” she nodded, quickly putting back on the goggles hanging from her neck. “Let me finisch zis sbell und I'm all yours, ve can talk in zee vaiting room.”

Barry and Taako stepped back while she finished channelling some kind of enchantment on the spiders in the bigger tank.

“Barold, what is this?” Taako groaned. He  _ really _ wasn’t in the mood to be dragged into nerd matters as a  _ specialist _ . He wasn’t a damn specialist, he was  _ the best fucking transmutation wizard ever _ , but he would rather die than give a nerd lecture about it. He  _ earned  _ his talent, he wasn’t gonna just  _ share  _ it.

“Trust me,” Barry said, nodding excitedly. “You’re gonna like this.”

“Huh…”

“Zo,” Liza grinned, clapped her hands and turned around to face them. One of the spiders in the tank had grown three times his size and was burning with a weird blueish light, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Bazically, mein fiancé is...ein rezearcher, you could zay.” She awkwardly averted her eyes. “He vorks for...I'm not zure who he vorks for but he looks for poverful magical artifacts.”

Taako narrowed his eyes slightly.  _ Powerful magical artifacts _ sounded like the Relics they made with the Light, but there were plenty of magic objects in the world that had nothing to do with them. “A  _ gauntlet _ ?” it slipped before he could stop himself.

Liza shrugged. “Dunno, he neffer tells me much apout vork.”

“Fair,” Taako rolled his eyes and waved a hand at her, “please continue.”

She gave him a weird look. “Zo he's looking for zis ardifact...I knov zee last it's effer been zeen vas here in Neffervinder, abarently in bozezion of an elffen voman in a red robe und ein dvarf called Rockzeeker.”

Taako perked up more or less at the same time Barry smiled. This was  _ pretty vague _ but still a better lead than he’d ever had in the last ten years. “When was this?”

“Apout ten years ako?” Liza frowned.

“I need to find this Rockseeker guy…” Taako muttered to himself, fidgeting with the edge of his cloak.

“Haffe I peen uzeful, brofezor?” the woman looked at Barry, expectantly. Barry nodded and patted her on the shoulder, but kept his eyes on Taako.

“I know it’s not  _ recent _ ,” he sheepishly admitted, “but it’s something, there’s never been many people flashing  _ red robes _ around here.”

“You’d be surprised,” Taako smirked. Suddenly, he clapped his hands and faced Liza. “Thank you for the info, but I can’t help but wonder  _ why _ you’d tell all of this to a stranger...”

Liza shrugged. “Brian vas zubozed to be avay for a couple of dayz. It's been  _ months _ . I effen had to cancel zee vedding!” she crossed her arms. “If you zee him aliffe, tell him I vant nothing to do vith him anymore, put I still visch to know if he's alright.”

“Noted, darling.” Taako waved at her and rushed out, not even bothering to wait for Barry. He wanted to find information on this Rockseeker clan as soon as possible.

Barry didn’t follow, he stayed with Liza instead. The girl was staring at the door Taako had just walked through with a wry confused smirk.

“Thank you again,” Barry said, starting to walk towards the exit.

“Ja,” Liza nodded. “Your friend reminds me a bit of Brian.”

“He does?” Barry laughed nervously, rubbing his neck. “I’m not sure I ever met your fiancé.”

“Brofezor?” she called after him, a worried frown depicted on her face. “Be careful around him.”

-

Taako literally barged into the Lonely Hearts at the ground floor of the inn he was staying at with Julia and Magnus. He was impatient to get back on the road, to look for this  _ Rockseeker _ fellow, but before he realized he was doing it, he was already looking for Magnus and Julia to relay the news. It still surprised him how much he’d come to trust them and involve them in his life.

And this wasn’t a success that he could keep to himself.

He quickly scanned the guests-packed room until he saw the two of them, side by side, standing in front of a weird trio of adventurers in an apparent argument over a sheet of paper. Taako cast Blink and moved through the crowd to appear beside Julia, facing the three strangers, who gasped and jumped in surprise, while Magnus and Julia reacted pretty calmly to his appearance, used to this habit of his.

“Oh, good timing!” Magnus beamed, and turned towards the leader of the adventurers, a _very_ _handsome_ man in a shining pristine suit of armor. “Now there’s three of us!”

“What is this all about?” Taako asked Julia.

She shrugged, with a wry smile. “Just a job, Magnus took it personal when they wouldn’t even let him take a look at the offer.”

“What kind of adventurer are you, elf?” the handsome one pointed at him. He didn’t seem particularly hostile and his companions not particularly bright.

“Me?” Taako pointed at himself. “I’m just a simple idiot wizard…”

Magnus snorted.

“A wizard and two fighters…” the adventurer mused, rubbing his golden beard. “Sounds like you’d be able to pack a punch, but with no healer in your midst I’m not sure how well it can go. Please, understand, I’m just really concerned about giving the employer the best team available!”

Taako looked at the timid gnome cleric, clutching a Holy Book to her chest, and the lanky wizard who picked his nose and examined the booger like he was trying to get some arcane secrets out of it. He was about to voice some snarky remark when a familiar voice caught him off-hand.

“Do you guys know any  _ teens _ ?”

The handsome one gave a sympathetic smile to the old dwarf that just approached. “I told you already to scoot somewhere else, old man.”

Taako looked down with a borderline horrified expression. “What the fuck are  _ you _ doing here?” he asked Merle, as the dwarf slipped a couple of Pan-phlets on the table.

Merle looked up and narrowed his eyes, staring at Taako for a few seconds as he probably tried to pinpoint where he’d met the elf before. Finally, he snapped his fingers and pointed at him. “You’re the chef guy!”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m the chef guy,  _ we’re hundred of miles away from your village what the fuck _ !” He spread his arms in disbelief.

Merle shrugged. “Been travelling, spreading the word of  _ Pan _ .”

“To teens?”

“More susceptible to offer charity to an old man,” he chuckled, whispering with a hand on the side of his mouth.

Put off by that last remark, Taako groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, on any other occasion he would dragged Merle aside and asked him what he was up to, but there were starting to be too many plates on the table, to many things to deal with at once. “Oh, hey!” he suddenly realized, “You’re a  _ cleric _ !”

“That I am,” the dwarf nodded solemnly.

“I see!” the very handsome fellow from the other group grinned. “Now that’s a proper adventuring team, but the job requires  _ three _ people and there’s four of you!”

“Gee, how picky…” Magnus muttered under his breath.

“Then I’ll tag myself out,” Julia patted Magnus on the shoulder. “You got this.”

Taako watched her walk away, knowing perfectly well she was only keeping the appearances of allowing them to take a look at the offer. There was  _ no way _ she would let her husband go on an adventure without her.

“Then what’s left is to assess which team is more capable to carry out the job!” he roared with laughter, before proposing a series of  _ non-violent _ challenges to avoid the anger of the innkeeper.

“I should warn you,” the handsome one grinned, “Last time I arm wrestled a man, I ripped that entire half of his body completely off.”

The taunt didn’t seem to discourage Magnus. “The last time someone challenged me, I freed an entire town from a tyrant.”

“ _ We _ freed an entire town from a tyrant!” Julia called from the other side of the room.

“We did!” Magnus nodded, proudly glancing at Julia. “That’s my wife!” he added.

Magnus’ arm wrestling victory was predictable, but as Merle sat down and started singing an off cord fake invocation instead of using Divine Intervention like Taako expected, the elf fought the urge to grab the glass and smash onto the dwarf’s head.  _ What the fuck was wrong with him _ ? Merle had never been as malicious as his previous comment hinted at, and he was much too good a cleric to screw up a spell like that. He had obviously escaped a community and a family that had no love for him, but even so, this was something else.

In the end, Taako lost his patience and opted to cast Mislead to, while invisible, lift the glass up and splash its content on the other cleric’s face. Merle rejoiced and jumped off his chair, satisfacted, while Taako returned to his double’s place and the self proclaimed  _ best cleric there ever was  _ just stared, dumbfounded and a little sad at her holy symbol.

“It’s you an’ me now, wizard!” the lanky wizard with beaver-like teeth jumped up. “I challenge you to a riddle contest!”

Taako made a face and stepped back. “Uhh, or we could not?”

“Show me your smarts!”

“Come on, Taako, we’re on a roll!” Magnus pleaded, apparently having more fun than the rest of them combined.

Taako rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, catching a single strand in his fingers and holding it up to transmute it into a short iron wire. The change went unnoticed, Taako realized with a grimace, but showing off wasn’t his final objective anyway. “If you’re a wizard why don’t you show off your spells?”

“I can do spells and stuff, Master Chef Jr.  _ Can you _ ?”

Taako froze. Magnus stepped back, a low-pitched cackle escaping his throat. Merle took a look at both of them and surreptitiously kept his distance from the elf as well.

“Ok,” Taako let a malicious grin spread on his face. “I couldn’t give less of a shit about the job but you’ve just pissed me off.”

“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” Merle whispered at Magnus, who just grinned and shrugged.

-

When the three rival adventurers left they were carrying the beaver-toothed wizard with them, as still and straight as a log under the lasting effect of a Hold Person. Magnus grabbed the sheet of paper with the job offer and held it over his head, beaming at Julia while she gave the three of them a double thumbs up.

“Let’s see what this bad boy says.” Merle said, when Magnus finally laid the paper down on the table.

“I wasted two spell slots for this, I hope it’s worth it.” Taako added, oblivious to the nervous glare Merle shot him.

“Well, this is promising!” Magnus grinned, putting an arm over Taako’s shoulders. The wizard, for one, couldn’t believe his luck as he saw the name Rockseeker on the paper, offering ‘ _ the last job you’ll ever need to take _ ’.

Istus certainly had her eyes on them.


	10. to this favor she must come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 5 Scene 1_

It was obvious, when they met their employer in the city of Leilon - south of Neverwinter, down the High Road - that this was not the dwarf Liza had been talking about. Gundren Rockseeker had never been to Neverwinter, but one thing gave rise to Taako’s hopes: Gundren claimed he  _ hadn’t seen his father in ten years _ , after  _ someone  _ asked for his help in securing some kind of magical item in a vault. Gundren has no clue whether this someone was the elven lady Taako said he was looking for, but was pretty accommodating in aiding him in his search for her once he was able to secure the vault’s location.

He was less accommodating with the number of people interested. He insisted on a three-people job because he wanted to move in groups of two - less noticeable, he claimed - but in the end settled on employing all of them. He took off with Julia at dawn, pointing at a town called Phandalin on the map, where they would wait for them, when they departed from Leilon with a supply wagon a few hours later.

It was slightly disappointing that a job advertised as  _ the last they’d ever need to take _ had roped them into being delivery boys, and with Magnus constantly worried about Julia - though trying not to show it - and Merle not really willing to open up about the circumstances that brought him there, Taako had fallen into a cycle of boredom and naps to the point where he was almost  _ glad _ to find Gundren and Julia’s wagon on the side of the road, being ransacked by a bunch of gerblins.

They infiltrated their lair, freed Julia, who was putting up quite a fight, and made friends with a bugbear while thwarting a coup d’etat towards him. It would have become quite the adventure, if not for the fact that when they arrived in Phandalin, their employer was still in the clutches of someone who went by Black Spider - and talk about blatant nicknames, Taako had a pretty good idea who this person was gonna be.

He wasn’t expecting the orc.

“Are you here for the Pho̢e̡n͢i͘x̸ Fi͡re Ģau͝n̕t͘let̶?” the orc woman asked.

_ Is it here?  _ Taako thought and the words were on the tip of his tongue when Merle tried to replicate a static noise in answering her.

_ This was gonna get tricky:  _ he had no way to understand which words were staticked and which were not. For some reason, the orc woman was immune to Fisher’s influence, which meant she was connected to Lucretia,  _ which meant Lucretia was looking for _ \- no, not Lup, probably, or she wouldn’t have mentioned the Gauntlet first.

Before the four of them could ask the orc woman more questions, though, she  _ tried to kill them _ by setting a piece of mining machinery against them. Not quite as friendly as her expanded vocabulary might have let them think. Maybe she wasn’t with Lucretia at all - Luce would have never allowed someone to kill randomly involved adventurers.

It was only a few minutes later that karma bit her in the ass and the four of them exchanged an amused look when she begged for their help, hearing them come from the stairwell descending into the cavern.

“Eat a big’un!” Taako called back, sitting on the ground. Magnus laughed but it was obvious from his body language he wanted to go help her: such a good man, deep down.

As Magnus and Merle predictably rushed into the cave, it was Julia who sat down next to Taako. She was still a bit beaten up from the whole Gerblin kidnapping but she still had joined the party in their adventure and even looked like she was having fun.

“You’re not going?” she asked.

“Nope.” Taako took a book out of his satchel and started pretending to read it. “Nope-a-tee-nopity-nope. She tried to murder me, I’m not helping her!” They’d found the other two Rockseekers dead during their exploration, there was no reason to assume the third one - their employer - was still alive. Goodbye payment and goodbye last person who could have had an idea where Lup had gone. Maybe he could work something with the orc woman if she managed to survive, he just had to be careful about what he said.

“I thought you came to find your family,” Julia insisted. Just a few years before, he’d have considered her an annoyance, but in a very short time she kicked down the doors of his broken heart and walked in like she owned the place - no wonder Magnus  _ married _ the girl.

“Gundren had a lead, and he’s very much dead at this point. Let Mango play hero, let Merle grieve his cousin, whatever, I don’t even care anymore,” he said, and just as soon as the words escaped his throat, they left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“ _ Taako _ ,” she smacked him lightly on the head. When he looked up with an incredulous and offended expression, she nodded at the door. 

“Can’t I just read in peace?” he exclaimed, raising the book to highlight his words.

Julia looked at the book, then at him and quietly said, with a smile, “You’re holding it upside down.”

Taako looked at the pages and squinted.  _ That’s why it was so hard to read _ . As he was about to make a snarky remark about the benefits of reading upside down, a voice echoed in the stairway.

“Oh, vat a fantasdic deffelopment! Ah! Ve haffe guests, dear, how exciting!”

The voice itself wasn’t familiar, but the cadence was. Taako couldn’t suppress a grin, he was  _ so right _ about the blatant nickname.

“That was weird,” Julia commented, both taken aback and intrigued. Taako dropped the book - didn’t even bother to put it back in the satchel - and stood up, starting to stride down the staircase. “I thought you weren’t interested?” Julia followed suit, giving him a smug smile.

“That accent was weird enough that I gotta check who that is!” Taako giggled.

Standing in the room, on the edge of a  _ very deadly _ looking pit, was - just as Taako expected - a drow, wearing a black tabard depicting a white spider.

The man was wearing slick heels and white nail polish and on any other day Taako would have admired his style, but his eyes were fixed on the steel bracer glinting on the elf’s right arm. It was the same bracer the orc woman - currently plastered on the wall by a gigantic spider web - was wearing.

Spider web.

“ _ Sbiter vep _ !” Taako slapped his fist into his open palm as he realized what Liza had meant back there. Julia just shot him a weird look, before running in the orc’s direction and starting to hack down the web with precise blows of her shortsword. With an air of contentment, Taako walked closer to the drow and stopped beside Magnus, who grinned brightly when he realized he had joined the party.

“Oh, other guestz! How exciting!” the drow exclaimed as he spotted the two of them. “Ve haffe effen more guests, dear! Ve schould make blace at zee table for all of zem!” He exclaimed in the direction of the orc woman, who groaned loudly.  _ If the bracer didn’t confirm it this did _ : the two knew each other. Why were they fighting, then? He’d better be cautious.

“He seems nice,” Magnus shrugged, lowering his weapons. The only one on edge seemed to be Merle, and it was clear when Taako followed his gaze to the figure of a prone dwarf on the ground: the very same Gundren Rockseeker who, to Taako’s surprise, seemed to be still alive.

“Well,” Taako started, clearing his throat. After not even a second of consideration, he suppressed a giggle and exaggerated his own accent to mimic the drow’s. “I just wanted to say I’m so happy to meet someone else who talks normally!”

Magnus howled with laughter at the unexpected improvisation, and even Merle despite the situation chuckled. Taako wished she wasn’t giving his back to Julia and the orc so that he could see their expressions.

“I loffe your cadence, dear. Vere are you from?” The drow leaned forward, sounding genuinely interested.  _ Did he seriously fall for that _ ?

“Uh- New Elfington.”

“Are you?” Magnus asked through the tears that had formed in his eyes.

“Am I?” Taako said quietly, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows. Magnus snorted again, thoroughly entertained.

The drow cleared his throat. “I zuboze no introductions vill be necezary: mein rebutation breceeds me, alzo zee sbiter tabard.”

“You’re  _ Brian _ , right?” Taako grinned. “Liza sends her regards, also she wants nothing to do with you  _ ever never ever _ .”

Brian’s smile only grew larger, even more crazed, but his grip tightened on the staff - probably his casting focus - he was holding. “Oh, I zee...” He said slowly. “You are mein reblacement, zen?”

Taako made a face. “Eugh, no, thug. I’m sooo gay, I’m just uh, um, her buddy, her right-hand, her puh-roxy... _ actually _ I’m looking for an elf lady in a red robe,” he enunciated.

The Drow immediately stopped smiling and the orc woman drew a sharp breath. Taako noticed their reaction and went still, realizing that somehow, despite his careful act, he’d  _ just fucked up _ .

“What did he just say?” Killian hissed. Julia reacted quickly, holding her short sword to Killian’s neck. 

“Not another fucking word,” she warned, and evidently nailed her Intimidation roll, because the Orc shut her mouth. “So, you’re gonna help us or I swear I’m going to throw you off that cliff. Are we clear?”

Killian glanced one more time at Taako, narrowing her eyes. “Yes,” she nodded slowly. “I’m...my name is Killian. Sorry about the- the machine. My partners were incapacitated earlier and I was on edge.”

“Fight on our side and I’ll make sure my boys get that,” Julia grinned as she saw Magnus reaching for his weapon.

It was time to roll initiative.

-

Taako stood back up again, with difficulty. He’d fucked up more than a couple of rolls and ended up being badly injured against a fucking amateur wizard and an oversized spider. It was embarrassing. He fixed his hat and checked on his cloak - the magic missile had burned a hole right through it,  _ how annoying _ .

“Hey,  _ Brian _ ,” he spit out the name, pointing his wand at him. “Abraca-fuck you!” Taako shouted and for a moment he actually aimed to cast a simple magic missile - Brian was already pretty messed up anyway. But the Drow had to go and insult his magic just because of a fucked up roll on Taako’s side.  _ It was unrecognizable my ass _ .

He cast Sunbeam. A beam of blinding white light erupted from the wand and engulfed the drow, who screamed protecting his eyes and stumbled backwards. Taako interrupted the casting halfway, to avoid dealing a killing blow: he was a fucking  _ showman _ , not a savage.

“Who-  _ ze fuck _ \- are you ?” Brian asked, barely standing on his feet at the edge of the pit.

Taako grinned. “The best fucking wizard you’ve ever met, bitch.”

-

Brian was a small fish, the classic mediocre spellcaster with dreams of greatness and power. Taako had faced a dozen just adventuring in the last decade and even more during their travel through planar systems, he was nothing new, nothing  _ relevant _ .

On the other hand, the orc -  _ Killian _ , wonderful name, not very orcish - was someone Taako knew he had to keep an eye on. Yes, she had helped them against Brian and Bryan, animating a giant tractor with legs with the same magic artifact she probably used to animate the grinder against them earlier, but that didn’t change the fact that she was after the  _ Phoenix Fire Gauntlet _ and had, at some point, had to be working  _ with _ Brian or they wouldn’t be wearing that same weird bracer.

“I cannot believe... you guys pulled that off.” Killian told them after the four of them had finished laughing their asses off at Brian’s last, pitiful attempt at fooling them. “Brian- Brian was one of the most accomplished, powerful wizards I have ever met in all of my days. I - I am flabbergasted, frankly, that we all did not perish.”

_If that’s what a powerful wizard was for her she didn’t have very high standards_. Magnus shrugged, more worried about Julia’s condition now that the fun was over. The woman was sturdy, but she’d still sustained a few injuries during the battle that Merle was now tending to.

“Especially you.” Killian approached Taako warily. “That was some high level spellwork there,  _ who are you _ ?”

Taako looked at her, hand on his chest like offended. “Uh? It’s  _ me _ .” He smiled. “I’m Taako, you know? From Teen Vogue?”

“Teen what?” Killian frowned. “You mentioned looking for a Red Robe…”

“Well, a lady wearing a red robe, actually. And a specific one, I didn’t wake up with a craving this morning!”

Killian’s grip on her giant crossbow tightened. “So you’re not here for the Pho̢e̡n͢i͘x̸ Fi͡re Ģau͝n̕t͘let̶, or any of the other G̸r͏an͢d̵ R̶el҉i͘cs̨, are you?”

_ What the fuck was a Grand Relic _ ? He desperately wanted to ask her, but bit his tongue and instead, he leaned forward, and painted the most innocent and confused expression on his face. “Now listen, I have a little bit of um, um, uh, expertise with the magics.” He kept leaning, until Killian started to step back from the rest of the group. “Uh, I’m assuming this is some sort of curse preventing us from understand- That or both you and Magic Brian are incredibly competent at mimicking the sound of static with your mouth.”

Killian’s features seemed to relax a little bit. She secured the crossbow to her back, glancing one more time at Gundren, who’d just started to walk towards the door the automaton burst through, and grabbed what looked like a colorful feather duster from her bag of holding. It must have been imbued with some sort of levitation spell, as she dropped it into the pit and used it to recover something from Brian’s corpse. Taako looked over the edge to catch a glimpse of what she was doing, while the rest crossed over in the next room.

“You need help down there?” He called for Killian.

“I’m- No, thanks, I’ll catch up in a moment, just go!” Killian cried, fumbling with something on the Drow’s arm.  _ That bracer again _ . It felt _ important _ , Taako was sure it had something to do with Fisher’s lack of influence over the two of them.

As he shrugged and turned around to follow on Gundren and the rest, he saw Julia step back out in the chamber and look at Taako with an apparently  _ horrified _ expression.

“Yo, Jules? What’s up?” Taako frowned, hurrying towards her.

Julia  _ stopped him _ from moving forward, one hand of hers on his chest, and shook her head with that same shocked, no,  _ sad _ but determined expression. “Maybe it’s- you shouldn’t-” she mumbled, but as Taako’s nervousness started to show, she let her arm drop. “I’m sorry.”

Taako rushed past her. Merle and Gundren were standing in front of a huge vault door, stained with dozens of bloody handprints, while Magnus stood to the side of the room, an expression similar to Julia’s painted on his features as he turned to face Taako.

There was something, there, in a corner of the room. A bundle of  _ red _ and  _ white _ and-

“Fuck, man, I’m- I’m sorry-” Magnus said, as Taako struggled to process what was standing in front of him.

Sitting on the floor in a surprisingly natural position, wrapped in a bright crimson robe, golden buttons and garments glinting in the light of the torches, was a pristine white skeleton.

_ Liches’ bones appeared black when Lup and Barry rose for the first time from their living forms, their skin translucent and resplendent at the same time. Lup’s hair moved in a nonexistent wind like a wild flame, even Barry, nerd little Barry Bluejeans looked  _ threatening. _ For a moment all Taako could feel at that ritual site was pure fear. _

_ And then Lup dabbed _ .

Taako slowly walked past Magnus, eyes fixed on the figure on the ground, expression blank. His wand fell on the ground as his grip on it loosened.

“Oh, aw, shit!” Merle finally noticed them. “Is that the lady he was-”

“Hey, Merle?” Magnus’ voice was calm but hard. “ _ Shut up _ .”

Taako stopped in front of the skeleton, eyes scanning every inch of the figure. The IPRE patch’s bright blue and colorful design contrasted with the red fabric and left no doubt about the identity of the corpse. But Taako’s eyes were fixed on the skull,  _ one should not be that familiar with the shape of a loved one’s skull _ and yet he could even tell it looked almost peaceful.

“Hey, Lulu…” he called weakly, his voice breaking as he fell on his knees. “Lulu, what the fuck…?”

Julia walked back in, exchanging a worried look with Magnus. They were about to approach Taako when he stood up again.

“This is fine, she’s not…something like this wouldn’t...” he started saying, looking for the right words, but as he brushed against the skeleton, its precarious position shifted and exposed a wooden curved handle.

And Taako _ froze _ .

_ ‘So, this is… well, it’s called an Umbrastaff’ _ Lup’s voice was echoing in his mind as he moved slowly and extended an hand towards it.

_ ‘It looks ridiculous, I’m sorry, but you look like a clown with that thing. It is ludicrous.’ _ His hand clasped on the umbrella, the wood lit up detecting his Arcane energy, flashing with sparks of red light.  _ ‘Yeah, a cool- like a cool clown…’ _

Taako pulled the Umbrastaff out of the robe and stood straight up, holding it in both hands, just as the skeleton, already frail, crumbled to dust, leaving only the clothes crumpled to the ground.

_ ‘Well, there’s no accounting for taste.’ _

“Is that...an umbrella?” Magnus said, approaching him. Taako turned around, his eyes still wide in shock.

“It’s-” he had to swallow, his breath getting quicker in panic. “She wouldn’t have left-”

A high pitched whine resonated in the chamber as Taako held the staff tightly to his chest, he didn’t realize he was making the sound himself until his throat started hurting.

Concerned, Magnus extended an arm to reassure him, maybe pat him on the shoulder, but Taako jerked away from the contact, stepping back and hitting the cave’s wall. The dusty robe laid down at his feet.

_ ‘Robe or jacket?’ ‘Both?’ ‘Both.’ ‘Both is good.’ _

She’d left her jacket with Taako when she left.

He kneeled, back still pressed on the cold stone, and grabbed the cloth. Dust and dirt falling out, any semblance of a body completely gone now.

“Taako,” Julia called. Taako ignored her, shaking the robe twice and then wrapping it around his shoulders like a mantle.

And then he started running.

_ ‘Everybody else that I ever met, aside from the six of you, were  _ dust. _ They were just talking dust, ok? So I started worrying a lot more about me ‘cause what was the fucking point?’ _

He ran, deaf and blind to the others’ calls, his mind swarming with a thousand thoughts, cold rivulets of tears streaming down his cheeks. He ran up the stairway, through the spring and the mushroom room, past the dwarven bodies he looted not too long before and finally, again, out in the sunlight.

Even the blue sky -  _ wrong color, still felt like wrong color _ \- seemed to be laughing at him. What right did it have to be such a nice day? The horses they used to get to the cave were still tied up, Taako ignored them and ran into the forest, without stopping, allowing himself to finally fall to his knees and  _ scream  _ only when he was  _ completely sure _ he was alone.

He thought he was just going to cry, instead he just kept screaming in frustration and burned spell after spell, absolutely devastating the patch of forest he hid in. Ten years. Ten  _ fucking  _ years and she’d been dead all that time.

No,  _ worse than dead _ .

Whatever her fate was, just being killed wouldn’t have stopped her. She would have taken the Umbrastaff with her, even as a lich, meaning that if she left it there something  _ bad  _ had to have happened.

_ Somebody took her away. Banished. Destroyed? _

_ Would she even come back if they escaped to another System? _

When he finally exhausted his energy and regained a bit of clarity of mind, he realized with horror he abandoned his friends with Gundren about to open the vault where the Gauntlet was hidden.

Pushing himself, he ran back to the cavern only to realize that the wagon and horses were missing and a line of scorched ground ran from the entrance of the mine down the path to Phandalin.

Cursing at no particular god, he used his only remaining high level spell slot to cast Phantom Steed, jumped on Garyl and silently rode back towards the town.


	11. nothing can he lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease, where having nothing, nothing can he lose. And as for you yourself, our quondam queen, you have a father able to maintain you; and better 'twere you troubled him than France._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, History of Henry VI, Act 3 Scene 3_

Cycles were inconvenient, they meant that every year the scars, the physical training, the proof of their journeys, even things as silly as tattoos and haircuts were  _ erased _ . Nothing was permanent. In that way, cycles were also reassuring.

Lup died for the first time during the last month of Cycle 4, falling down a cliff, her hand slipping out of Taako’s as their eyes met for one last time before she plummeted into the fog below.

What kept Taako going during those last few days was the assurance, the certainty that she  _ would _ come back. When she finally reformed on the deck, wrapped in tendrils of light, she looked around with a spooked expression and said “Wait, did I die?”

Taako didn’t let anyone answer, he simply threw himself into her arms, face blank and hands shaking as he took deep breaths against her shoulder.

She hugged him back. “Oof, that bad?” she laughed, immediately lightening the atmosphere. They were  _ safe _ , they were  _ together _ and they would always be.

Now, though,  _ Lup was gone _ , and this was a thought Taako desperately tried not to focus on as the horizon lit red and a column of flame licked the sky.  _ Magnus, Merle, Julia _ .  _ Not them too, please, not them too _ . He silently prayed to Pan, Oghma, Istus and whatever God or Goddess whose name he could remember as he pushed Garyl to the limits of its efficiency.

The black glass circle was still hot - and Taako could feel the heat radiating through the soles of his boots - the soft clink of his heels on the smooth surfaces sending shivers up his spine as his eyes darted left and right, trying to see  _ anything _ , any sign of life or movement.

And then he saw them.

-

Julia was the first to climb out of the well, or rather the  _ hole _ in the ground that had remained after the fire. Magnus followed suit and the two of them pulled up the rope Merle had tied around himself and the unconscious Killian.

Phandalin was  _ gone _ and there was no better way to say it, there weren’t even bodies, just a smooth and perfect circle of smoking black glass, still warm to the touch.

“All those people,” Julia gasped, looking around, a hand on her mouth in sheer  _ horror _ .

It was Magnus who first saw the figure approaching through the smog, strikingly crimson against the black ground, visible even from several yards away. He walked erratically, in a state of confusion, and Magnus  _ knew _ when he finally saw the four of them because he instantly stopped and then started  _ running _ towards them.

Although - and spending several years in his company Magnus knew this well - Taako didn’t despise hugs as much as he claimed to, he had  _ never _ initiated physical contact. When the elf was close enough for Magnus to see a number of expressions painted on his face - panic, relief, guilt - he slowed down but walked up straight up to Magnus and grabbed his arm with both hands, shaking like a leaf. Magnus didn’t even miss a beat and pulled him into a hug, followed by Julia.

“Where the hell have  _ you been _ ?!” Merle’s harsh question brought them back to the present. Magnus and Julia let Taako go and looked at him, waiting for an answer that didn’t come.

Instead, Taako stepped back, not looking directly at any of them. His gaze was fixed on a skeletal charred figure partially emerging from the glass a few feet away from them, his arm still sticking out, extended towards the sky, the Gauntlet unharmed and glinting in the sunlight. Without any warning, he once again bolted towards it and, ignoring the others’ warning cries, with a swift movement he ripped the silvery gauntlet - and carbonized hand inside - from its arm.

Magnus had known Taako for some years, and though he knew he could be a weird guy - Chaotic Neutrals often were - he considered him a very close friend, someone who he could trust. He knew that unlike most elves, Taako liked to sleep and allowed himself to in Magnus and Julia’s presence. He knew he got night terrors and more than often called for Magnus and other people whose name sounded at the same time familiar and foreign.

Magnus had never seen Taako with such a blank expression as in that moment, where he held the gauntlet in his hands like he might really burn the whole world.

“Hey, buddy-” he approached him carefully, “you might want to consider not putting that on…”

Taako sneered. It wasn’t a pleasant response but at least it was a reaction.  “Nah,” He shook the glove as pieces of black carbon and ash came out of it, “it would clash with my outfit.”

Julia went to tie Killian’s hands before she could wake up. Only when she was done did she walk to her husband’s side, just as Taako had finished wrapping the gauntlet in a felt bag, wincing in pain as the contact with the metal had just burned his hands pretty badly. “Where have you been?” she repeated Merle’s question.

“Yeah, maybe if you hadn’t left we could’ve saved Phandalin!” Merle butted in. Magnus glared at him but didn’t say anything.

“We couldn’t have.” Taako replied, plainly and matter-of-fact, his expression still distant and apparently detached. “The city was doomed from the moment Gundren put it on.” He pulled the wrapped-up gauntlet to his chest, alongside the umbrella he found earlier.

“Well maybe,” Merle continued, irritated, “he wouldn’t have put it on if you stayed with us in the cave!”

Magnus saw Taako’s features contort with guilt briefly, before returning blank. “Maybe.” He admitted in the end. “Maybe not, but it was foolish of you to follow him. I’m-” His voice broke for a moment as he looked at them. “I’m glad you’re alright.” He sounded like he was going to cry. “Nice thinking, the well,” he added, quietly.

Julia walked up to him and gently put an hand on his arm, just as Killian, behind them, groaned, regaining consciousness. Magnus walked back to her, towering on her as she - still prone - took in the devastation all around them. “Oh, I- I guess we didn’t save Phandalin…” she sighed, then looked at them and she visibly did a double take when her eyes landed on Taako. “You’re back, you-” her face twisted in confusion, fear and then rage. “ _ Why are you wearing that thing _ ?” she snarled.

Taako hadn’t even been looking at her, but frowned and stepped closer to her when she addressed him in such a way and then did something that sent shivers down Magnus’ spine.

_ He smiled _ .

Taako painted expressions on his face like on a capricious canvas, Magnus had seen him barter with merchants and clients, and put on a very specific facade with the fans of his show they’d met during their travels. But the way he smiled at Killian, a witless and  _ empty _ smile, made him shudder.

“Found this nice piece of fashion in the cave. There’s a rip in the back but nothing a bit of needle and thread can’t fix,” he lifted a piece of the robe to show the aforementioned rip. There were traces of dried blood and a greyish liquid on it, it looked like whoever wore it before sustained a pretty bad sharp-force injury.

Magnus couldn’t shake the feeling he should have known who the robe belonged to, but as he tried to focus on it, his train of thought lost track.

Killian seemed to relax but still kept eyeing the robe suspiciously. “You were gone when I finished retrieving Brian’s Br͠ac̨ȩr of Ba͝l̶a̴nc̸e, where have you been?”

Taako nodded willfully. “I saw a skeleton and ran away.” He kneeled down and whispered loudly, his eyes wide. “I’m terrified of skeletons.”

“Right…” she leaned back, looking around. “Wait, where’s the Gauntlet?”

“I have it!” Taako lifted up the bag he put it in. Once again fear passed on Killian’s face for a fraction of a second.

“You’re not putting it on,” she realized in a mild stupor. “How- The thrall didn’t overcome you?”

“Nope,” he popped the  _ p _ . “Should I have done something to-” he motioned to open the sack, just as Killian screamed for him not to, trying to extend her arms, she realized her hands were tied up.

Julia approached Magnus, sharing a few concerned words with him. He wasn’t the only one being freaked out by Taako’s behaviour. For some reason the elf was pretty much messing with Killian, and it wasn’t as he’d never seen him mess with people before, but this was  _ different. _

“Taako, can I talk to you for a second?” he approached him and cautiously put a hand on his shoulder. Taako flinched,  _ bad sign _ , but he still stood up.

“Sure,” the elf looked up at him but didn’t move his feet, so Magnus had no choice but drag him away with force, signing to Julia to keep an eye on the orc as he pulled Taako away and far enough for their discussion to be private.

“What?” Taako asked, expressionless and sounding even a little annoyed.

“Are you ok?” Magnus asked him slowly, hands on both shoulders.

Taako smirked but blatantly avoided looking at him straight in the eyes. “Just fine and dandy, Maggie. Needed a bit of  _ me  _ time to deal with-” his voice broke as he talked and he needed to take a deep breath to avoid breaking down. He was still clutching the umbrella.

Magnus’s eyes fell on the wooden handle and for some reason his throat tightened with tears. “You found her,” he said softly. He didn't know who the woman was, but she clearly was someone important to Taako,  _ family  _ even. And he'd just seen her corpse crumbling to dust in front of him.  “Maybe not how you expected to, but you found her.” Taako looked up at him with a brief air of genuine surprise before he gritted his teeth and lowered his head once again.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, voice so low it was barely audible. “Let me go.”

“Taako, you’re not  _ fine _ ,” Magnus rebuked, gesturing all around them with one hand. The other was still firmly holding the elf’s shoulder. “ _ This  _ is not  _ fine _ .”

Taako looked up but it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Magnus sighed and walked with him back to the others. Killian was now standing up and talking to Merle.

“So, the girl is offering us a gig…” the dwarf summed as he saw the two of them approaching.

“I’m not- ugh, look,” Killian sighed, exasperated and seemingly conflicted. “I need to bring that artifact to the people I work for, and I think they could offer you a better explanation and- yeah, why not, a  _ job. _ I’m quite certain you all are capable of since you retrieved it without-” she looked around, “well, with  _ some _ issues that couldn’t have been avoided, I guess. But I’m sure we could really use your help.”

“Help with what?” Taako asked, cocking his head, slipping back into his eerily innocent persona.

“Help destroying it, once and for all,” Killian stated proudly, not breaking eye contact.

Taako froze, then slowly narrowed his eyes. “Destroy it?” he repeated, confusion and frustration chasing each other on his face. “You can’t _ destroy it _ .”

“Says who?” Killian shifted in what Magnus recognized as a defensive position. She was unarmed, now, that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous.

“Not like  _ you shouldn’t _ , I’m very much, uh,  _ pro  _ erasing a weapon of mass destruction,” he continued, in a state of agitation. “But- can you even? I have  _ no fucking idea _ what it’s made of but you can’t just destroy a powerful magic item like that!”

There was definitely something more about it, but Magnus didn’t trust Killian fully either so he nodded in agreement.

“Look, we have the means to. Our... _ organization _ ,” she enunciated the word slowly, staring at their faces, “is built around that very idea. You can keep the Ph̕o͢e̕nix͢ ͟F͞i͘r̨e ̛G̸au̢n͠tl͢e͠t҉ for now, but you’ll have to come with me. I’d tell you more, but I literally  _ can’t _ .”

“Can you bring us to someone who  _ can _ ?” Julia asked

“Absolutely! It’s what I’m trying to do here! If you’ll just untie me and go with me somewhere less...  _ glassy _ , I can call for…  _ transportation _ .”

-

It was not the right time for grieving. Taako knew this and yet the painful knowledge that all he had left of his twin sister was a bloodstained robe and that silly umbrella of hers sat painfully on his heart, making it hard to swallow or even to do something as simple as  _ focusing _ on his surroundings.

_ What happened? How long had she been gone?  _ These questions kept chasing around his mind, even when his priority should have been stopping the gauntlet from being used and finding out how and  _ why _ Brian and Killian were after it.

He knew some things: that Killian was immune to the Voidfish as Taako was - maybe the bracer was responsible? - that she had known or at least suspected of the gauntlet’s location and that she had at some point worked with Brian enough to know him well.

He played innocent to get her to spill the beans, although she was very careful with her words, probably in an attempt to avoid the static to kick in, she finally gave in and agreed to  _ bring them to her boss _ .

The sphere was a surprise. He’d seen some unbelievable things during his travels through planes, even more astonishing stuff than that. No, it was a surprise because Faerun wasn’t supposed to have that kind of Magitech  _ yet _ . Universities and the richest holds had Stones of Farspeech and rudimental Magitech engines but nothing as modern and futuristic as the flying contraption that landed in front of them.

“Just a heads up.” Killian looked at Taako before allowing any of them inside. “Throw away that thing,  _ Red Robes _ aren’t very well… liked in our group.”

“What’s this fashion bigotry?” Taako mumbled, offended, but complied and took off the robe, wrapping it around the Umbrastaff and using prestidigitation to change its color into a dirty brown. The enchantments woven in the uniform’s fabric wouldn’t allow the spell to last for long but it would be enough for now.

The orc seemed satisfied because she let them on the sphere, that took off as soon as all of them were strapped on their seats and flew towards the…

_ Oh, are you fucking kidding me? _

They were heading for the  _ moon _ .  _ The fucking moon _ .

How did he not notice there was a fucking second moon in the sky? How long had it been there? Fuck him and his habit of sleeping through the night: he might have have realized it sooner if only he hadn’t been his usual lazy, self-obsessed, distracted self.

On a similar note, he was pretty sure there had been only one moon when they arrived, so how and why did people not notice another satellite appearing? One good thing about the whole shock was that his surprise was genuine enough to fool Killian, who yielded and guided them into the base.

What happened next fell into a blur: at some point Killian left and some guy with a calming voice offered them a drink. Taako heard Magnus say something about him being  _ a bit overwhelmed _ but he didn’t have the patience to reply.

The fake moon had the size of a whole town covered in glass domes instead of building and it gave him the weirdest sense of  _ deja-vu _ . It  _ felt _ like the Institute’s campus, it even kinda looked like it if not for the prevalence of color blue instead of crimson, and there were numerous people buzzing around, all wearing that same bracer.  _ Magnus, Merle and Julia  _ had trouble comprehending what was around them and this emerged clearly from their discussion: it was like a haze or a  _ mist _ wrapped all around the whole structure.

And then the man who gave them alcohol pointed them at an elevator that took them in the bowels of the base alongside a droopy half elf who claimed to be the Best Musician of All Time. Taako didn’t even cast a single glance at him, tracing the random patterns on the crooked wood of the Umbrastaff’s handle with his finger.

But then he started playing, and it cut right through the fog in Taako’s mind because _ he knew that sound. _

Lup had picked up the violin for the first time on the road, while they were travelling with a troupe of street musicians. A very kind elderly half orc - younger than the two of them and yet at the end of his life - taught her to play and gifted his old fiddle to her when the twins left the troupe. It wasn’t long after that that they joined the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration, they proved they were brilliant and valuable, received their scholarship and they didn’t need the violin to get some coins on the road anymore.

The violin sat in the cupboard gathering dust, until they left and like  _ everything _ else in their world it got swallowed by the Hunger. Lup didn’t play for years after that, but once you learn something you can’t un-learn it, and the next time Lup played she played for  _ love _ , moving the hearts of an entire planar system.

Johann kept playing in a sort of spiritual rapture. Magnus was holding Julia’s hand and crying silently, incredibly moved by the song.

Taako could almost hear the shadow of a piano accompaniment and the silent gasps of the audience in the Legato Conservatory. This half elf was no pretender, the piece he played in that elevator was one of the most beautiful pieces of art that had ever graced their ears.

_ Lup would have loved it _ .

“Woah, are you ok?” Johann asked once he’d stopped playing, Taako didn’t even realize he’d been like paralyzed until Merle started forcefully pulling his arm as the elevator doors opened.

“I’m fine, I can walk,” he pulled his arm away from Merle’s grasp and massaged it. Johann guided them down a corridor and finally into a huge chamber containing  _ Fisher _ . Except Fisher was  _ huge _ , ten times bigger than the last time Taako had seen him, a dozen galaxies resplendent inside his body.

“Don’t try to look at it,” Johann sighed as he noticed Taako staring. “You gotta be inoculated first.”

“Inoculated?”

“Avi mentioned that too,” Magnus realized. “What does it mean?”

Johann walked the four of them to a spigot to the side of the tank and took out three empty vials he filled with the blueish gelatinous liquid Fisher was floating in.

_ Inoculation _ .  _ That _ was how these people became immune to Fisher’s mind erasing powers! That meant... _ that meant _ …

_ Finally _ .

He wasn’t going to be alone, they were going to remember and understand and finally,  _ finally, finally _ …

Magnus gulped down the liquid first and stood almost paralized, with his eyes wide open, as Taako and the others held their breath. “Oh my God, you guys…” he started. “Guys, it’s all clear. I remember everything.”

Taako was unable to stop a joyous grin from spreading on his face, as Magnus’ expression shifted from disgust to stupor and excitement.

“Here’s the thing, you guys. So basically what’s going on is there was a war for years and it was over a group of dangerous magical artifacts - and in the cave they were looking for one of them, called the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. Killian - she was explaining that the Bureau of Balance is in charge of tracking them down and destroy them -”

“Mag, Maggie-” Julia giggled, patting his shoulder, “slow down, we’re getting none of that.”

“Y- yeah,” he reeled. “Guys, you should drink!”

Taako’s smile fell.  _ Something was wrong _ . Magnus drank the ichor, was “inoculated” as they called it in that weird floating base, and was able to remember the Gauntlet and the Relic Wars. But the inoculation should’ve unlocked the century of memories that was taken him, and it didn’t. Was something else at work here? He needed confirmation, but didn’t dare do or say anything in front of the bard. He already had Killian suspicious of him, he’d better stick to the part if he wanted to figure out what was going on.

He gulped down the liquid at the same time as Merle.

Once the Key Lime Gogurt flavour faded away, the fishy aftertaste it left in his mouth was somehow  _ familiar _ . It brought him back to a lonely week in the Starblaster, where he started messing up in the kitchen for the sake of messing up, in a haze of boredom and sleep deprivation. Fisher handed him something, Taako had thought it was some kind of ingredient or Fisher’s attempt at cooking: he never thought about it again until now, where the pieces of the puzzle collided and in an instant he realized what was going on.

He dropped the vial, which shattered on the floor and as the others were looking at him expectantly he screamed a single word in shock and disgust.

“EGG.”


	12. speak daggers to her, but use none

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I will speak daggers to her but use none. My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites. How in my words somever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent!_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 2_

From the moment Johann mentioned the Director, Taako had a pretty good idea of who he was going to see once they reached the central office: she had built the place, the  _ Bureau of Balance _ , and dragged them in for a purpose that became  _ infuriatingly  _ clear.

Lucretia was a capable person and a decent magic user, but she wasn’t able to recover the pieces of the Light - the  _ Grand Relics _ they were calling them - on her own. She’d never been great at planning in advance. 

Taako decided to keep playing along: he was the only one who truly knew what was going on, and he didn’t want to lose the friends he worked so hard on finding again, just to get branded as an outsider and separated from them. But, oh, he was _ so going to mess with her _ , even if just to see her shocked expression from time to time. 

In front of the doors to the foyer, two guards were stationed at attention, one on either side. When the doors opened, they saw in front of them the figure of a woman sitting on some kind of throne in a large white and blue room and... 

Taako never fully understood human aging. Magnus boarded the Starblaster at 19, claiming to be a fully grown adult, Barry was at least 20 years older than the other two but got angry when they called him old. And most humans didn’t even get to live a single century, aging as fast as they matured. 

Lucretia still shouldn’t have looked so old. She was supposed to be Magnus’ age, instead she looked like she could pass as his  _ mother _ , too skinny to be healthy and with deep wrinkles carved in her face.

Something took  _ time _ away from her.

_ She deserves this _ , a voice on the back of his mind whispered. He shook his head to distract himself from such thoughts and waltzed in, pretending to look around disinterestedly. 

“Hey, Julia, Julia, look!” Magnus called excitedly, pointing at the soles of his boots, now perfectly clean. “Self cleaning floors!”

“Wish we had those at home,” she smiled weakly. Julia, too, had been acting strange since she drank the ichor: a shadow weighing over her eyes. Taako made a mental note to ask her about it later.

The four of them stopped at a reasonable distance from the chair as Lucretia stood up with difficulty, aiding herself with-  _ oh, are you fucking kidding me?! _ Taako made a choked noise as he kept himself from screaming: she was holding the Bulwark Staff itself. So much for research and destroy, uh?

“Welcome, the four of you, to the Bureau of Balance.” She greeted them with a polite and detached smile. “It’s a pleasure to have you. I’ve heard a lot of great things about your performance from Killian. Before we go any further I’m going to need you to hand over the Gauntlet so we can destroy it promptly.” She looked at Taako. If she heard  _ everything  _ from Killian she knew he was holding it.  _ What else did she know? _

Taako didn’t move. Thankfully, none of the others prompted him to.

“Here’s the thing, though. That’s kind of what we do-” Merle spoke first. “We get stuff and then people pay us for it, so…” 

“Oh, of course. You will be handsomely rewarded,” she assured them. It was interesting, to say the least, to see Lucretia,  _ their little Lucy, _ being an authoritarian figure. If not for the fact that the whole situation made him feel uneasy, Taako would have found  _ absolutely delightful  _ the fact that she was basically  _ pulling the strings of a secret organization _ .

“That’s the sort of thing people say before  _ killing _ unwelcome help,” Taako shrugged.

“Oh, Gods, no,” Lucretia reeled. “That’s not how the Bureau operates-”

“Can you really destroy this?” Taako interrupted her again, bouncing the sack containing the Gauntlet up and down. “Gonna need some kind of assurance first, don’t want a repeat of-” he gestured in a circle with his finger, whistling softly, then opened his palm making a  _ pchooom _ noise with his mouth. “that,” he concluded. “Maybe show us a demonstration?” 

“I- it’s the first Grand Relic we have ever recovered,” she stammered.

_ What about that staff then _ ? Figures she would hide the fact she was using one of the weapons she claimed to be willing to destroy.  _ Why tell everybody there were seven then? _

“I can’t exactly give you a demonstration before you hand it to us.” With a small cough, she recovered her impassibility. “Of course, let us handle the payment first. Davenport!”

Taako jolted. The Captain was there, working with her? He’d been the one most opposed to Lucretia’s plan, had she managed to change his mind and was working together with him? As confusing as that was, Taako couldn’t help but feel like a pressure had been lifted from his heart: now he knew where  _ every _ member of his family ended up, he had a complete picture. Well, except for…

He clutched the umbrella more tightly as a short gnome dressed like a butler sauntered into the room. His imposing moustache had been shaved clean and his permanently tousled hair was combed neatly. He barely looked like the authoritarian Captain he remembered, but Taako assumed he surely had the same adventurous spirit, as he looked positively  _ happy _ to see them as he stood next to Lucretia.

“Davenport!” the gnome joyously exclaimed, and Taako felt a lump in his throat.

_ What the fuck? _

“Bring up the money and tokens to pay these capable adventurers, Davenport!” Lucretia  _ ordered _ him and he nodded enthusiastically, repeating his own name, before counting the four of them with a finger and bolting out of the room.

_ That was so fucking wrong _ . Taako had never been so grateful to have no remaining spell slots because otherwise he would have blasted Lucretia off the damn moon.

He only half-listened to Merle’s and Magnus’ discussion on the horniness of seeing things destroyed, he just kept looking at his feet, careful to not make his hostility show. Julia put her hand on his shoulder, startling him and making him jump lightly. “Calm down,” she whispered, her other hand on his own now. He’d been clutching the wrapped up umbrella to the point that his knuckles had gone white.

When he felt her warm fingers on his hand, he finally allowed himself to take a deep breath and start to relax.

“It’ll be quite spectacular- are you alright?” Lucretia addressed him with concern when he realized he’d been acting strange.

_ Crap _ , he didn’t mean to get the attention on himself so early. “Yeah, it’s just- just, uh, a bit like too much. I’m just a simple idiot wizard here-”

“Oh, don’t sell yourself short,” she interrupted him, smiling kindly.  _ Fucking hypocrite _ .

“No, I appreciate it, but I’m comfortable with where I’m at,” he forced himself to smile, well aware that Merle was looking at him sideways. “I’m just standing in my truth, here. Listen, could you tell us a little about your organization, before we just... hand it over? It’s really scary, and it makes ouchies.” He raised a hand to show the burns he got earlier when he ripped the Gauntlet off Gundren’s corpse. “When you touch it I mean... _ ouchies _ .”

Lucretia shuddered, like she wanted to get closer and take a better look at his injuries, but cared more about appearances. “I’ll- one of you is a cleric, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, about that-” Merle chuckled bitterly. “Healing only works if there's a bond of trust and this guy bailed on us just before hell went down…”

Taako cringed.  _ He did _ , but it was so unlike Merle to say and think something like this that hearing it  _ hurt _ more than the burns.

Magnus smacked the dwarf on the back of his head. “He had his reasons to! Just go ahead and heal him!”

Merle huffed and lifted his holy symbol to cast Cure Wounds. The skin on Taako’s hands healed over the burns and he opened and closed his hands, relieved of the pain.

“You’re welcome, eh!” Merle grumbled.

Lucretia looked over the scene with an undecipherable expression. “The four of  _ you _ are the ones who defeated Brian and recovered the gauntlet, yes? That was-”

“Madam Director, we’re more than we appear, we promise. Just, tell us a little about the organization. Then we’ll do the gauntlet-destroying, have some tea, a nice oolong.” Magnus asked, shifting the discussion to a lighter tone. 

“You think just because I’m a woman who is in her mid-fifties, that I enjoy drinking tea?” Lucretia retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“Chamomile with a bit of vanilla accompanied by an almond cookie,” Taako muttered, mostly to himself, and froze when he realized that he spoke in a moment when everyone fell silent and they heard his voice clearly.  _ Play it cool _ . “Or at least, that’s uh, my opinion as a  _ professional chef _ . You look like the kind of person who would appreciate that.”

Lucretia was staring at him with a borderline terrified expression, speechless. Of course it was her favourite libation, and of course he knew, he was one of the crew chefs after all. She didn’t seem to realize he still had his memories intact, though, and  _ gods damn him  _ if he wasn’t going to make his stay there  _ unbearable for her  _ by making her stay awake at night wondering what he knew and how.

Taako continued his  _ spiel _ , without missing a beat. “Magnus here is more like the oolong addict and I’m putting my hand on my heart-” he put it on his stomach, “he was going to accept it from a goddamn bugbear.”

Julia nodded, “That happened.” 

“Not you too!” Magnus cried in disbelief, completely failing to sound any kind of offended.

Lucretia sighed, eyes darting among the four of them. “The Bureau of Balance has a singular purpose,” she explained “to collect and destroy certain...let’s call them _ weapons of mass destruction _ . I guess you could call us a sort of disarmament organization, who is tasked with making the world safer…”

Taako groaned loudly, rolling his eyes back as Lucretia went on explaining about the purpose of the organization. Lucretia, the shy record keeper,  _ leader of Fantasy Men In Black _ , it would have been absolutely hilarious if it wasn’t true and if she hadn’t brainwashed her former Captain into an absolutely pitiful dimwit. The funny thing about it was that he didn’t even need to punch her, all he had to do was find a way to recover Davenport’s memories and then lift him to be at Lucy’s eye level.

Taako only realized that he had zoned out when Merle pinched his arm, inciting him to drop the gauntlet into a weird metallic sphere a guard had brought in. The fancy-looking destruction process they witnessed was exactly that,  _ fancy _ . But that was no way something that could destroy the Light of Creation, so either Lucretia was collecting the relics and putting on a show, or, more likely, she was  _ freeing the Light from inside them _ . Instead of looking at the chamber, Taako kept glancing at Lucretia’s staff. It looked rougher, ruined at the top and bottom and projected no thrall, so maybe she did already destroy - or extract - the Light from it? Would it even make sense? What was her purpose?

When the sphere came back empty Taako had just more questions than he started with. There was definitely a  _ bait and switch  _ deal going on, so she was  _ keeping  _ the relics, fair, it would have been dangerous to put together the Light of Creation again before securing all of them, but was it  _ safe _ to keep them all in the same place?

“Davenport?” the gnome’s voice called.

He’d been spacing out again. Taako slapped his own cheek to shake himself out of it and focused on Davenport holding up to him a tray with a leather pouch and a bronze token - their payment, since everyone else was holding a similar set. “Thank you,” he whispered at him, nodding briefly. The gnome seemed pleased to receive recognition because he  _ beamed _ .

Lucretia looked  _ relieved _ . “That gauntlet you just destroyed is responsible for some of the worst atrocities our world has ever known.”

_ Lup’s expression when the first  _ glassing _ happened was burning against Taako’s closed eyelids _ . He should have been relieved too, but the whole situation caused him nothing but discomfort.  _ Did she even know what happened to Lup _ ?  _ Did she even care? _

“The three of you should be very, very proud of yourselves,” she smiled at them fondly.

Taako unwrapped the Umbrastaff and showed it to her. “Do you know anything about this umbrella?”

For a moment, Lucretia just stared in silence. Her hands shook as she moved away from them, back towards the throne, the only thing that briefly showed her state of mind. “I don’t, but our artificer might. I can send you his way after-” she sighed, collapsing on her chair. “Anyway, the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet is a very special, extremely powerful magic item. It is a weapon that was created by a band of wizards and warlocks and other magic-users, who refused to limit themselves.”  _ She changed the topic. _

Taako raised an eyebrow. Magnus had never been a magic user to begin with, where was she going with this story?

“They refused to rein in their- their experimentation, if you will, and that resulted in the creation of what we call the Grand Relics. There are seven of them in the world-”

“Six,” Taako and Magnus spoke at the same time.  _ How do you know-? _ Taako bit his tongue, Magnus thought the Gauntlet was gone, now. He had no way of knowing about the Bulwark Staff.

“Now there are six, yes, that’s right.” Lucretia agreed, wearily. “Um, I- this is the first- We’ve searched for so long for these relics. Our entire organization’s sole purpose is to find these relics, and-”

“Wait a minute.” Taako interrupted her again. “I need to clarify something. Just so I’m clear: Your whole organization, that lives in a moon, so far the score is  _ zero _ ?”

“How long do you think we’ve been in operation?” She frowned and launched herself into a long spiel about what had to be the  _ public _ version of the Relic War - her ‘discovery’ of ‘the voidfish’, founding the Bureau, building the base. Was that why she stopped keeping an eye on him, coming to his show? The timeline she talked about didn’t really match.

“Taako, did you get that?” Merle wondered.

“Oh? Yeah,” he lied. “Every word.”

Lucretia clearly loved the sound of her own voice, because she went on and on talking about the various roles the members of the Bureau had, including that of  _ Reclaimers _ she wanted to give them. Taako only listened with one ear, there was gonna be a test? He wasn’t in the shape to face a test, he was out of spell slots, he needed sleep.

“Which of you is the smartest? Which of you is the strongest? And which of you is the bravest?” Lucretia asked them, voice clearer all of a sudden and Taako jumped when he realized she was standing in front of them once again.

“Taako, all of the above.” Magnus said, without missing a beat.

“Listen-” he started, but Julia stepped in front of him.

“There’s four of us but only three roles?”

“Ah, of course I’m-” Lucretia reeled. “I miscalculated, I apologize. The test is made for a maximum of three people but maybe you can take it in groups of twos?”

“No, it’s fine,” Julia shook her head. “If it’s ok by you, I’d like to be of support, but I don’t think I can stand to face another adventure like that.”

“Of course,” Lucretia smiled, visibly relieved. “Support staff is  _ always  _ needed, thank you.”

Taako glared at her, at the same time Magnus smiled.  _ This was the same strategy she adopted in the tavern _ .

“Anyway, I would like for each of you to claim one of those three roles, I’ll leave it to you to decide among yourselves.”

“I’m the smartest then,” Taako shrugged.

“I’m the strongest!” Magnus beamed.

“Would that leave me as the bravest?” Merle scoffed. “I don’t really see that as being true.”

The discussion that ignited between the three of them was only stopped by Julia, who stepped in front of them, standing on Lucretia’s side. “Strongest,” she pointed at Taako. “Bravest,” she pointed at Magnus. “Smartest,” she pointed at Merle.

Lucretia’s mouth corner twitched as if she was repressing a smile when she looked at Julia.

“Is this ok by you?” Julia asked her.

“I really can’t say anymore,” Lucretia smirked. “You are knee-deep in test-town.”

Julia chuckled.

“Like the capable woman said, anyway.” Taako waved a hand, not really caring which role he was accepting.

“Very well,” Lucretia said and she tapped her staff on the ground.

-

The test was not a joke and Taako wished more than once he had more than a few cantrips and Magic Missile to work with, but he managed to keep the two robots at bay with only a few injuries. When Lucretia announced they’d passed, he instinctively flipped off the vague direction the voice came from, before being teleported back in the white office room.

They received their Bracers, and as the clasp magically sealed itself over his wrist, Taako felt a weird warmth he’d not felt since they received their uniforms at the Institute.  _ A proof you belong somewhere _ . He shook his head, better not get distracted by some useless feelings.

“Excuse me!” he raised his hand as Lucretia and the others were still talking about the bracers. “I have a question!”

“Go on,” Lucretia turned towards him.

“Was the seventh object love the whole time?” He fought back a grin, “because it would suck if, you know, we found the first six and then we had to  _ come back here _ to find that the seventh object was inside of us all along.” He gingerly pointed a finger at her, particularly at her staff.

Merle laughed, Magnus crossed his arms and nodded. “Good point,” he said. The only one who absolutely got the hint was Julia, who moved her eyes from the staff to Taako several times, with a worried look on her face. 

“I…” Lucretia clutched the staff, “I can neither confirm nor deny the seventh item was love all along.” 

She was holding her ground incredibly well, Taako noted. He had to step up his game if he wanted to keep her awake at night.

“I actually have a question too!” Magnus stepped forward. “As far as you know, is there a Bureau of Imbalance? Like a, a bad guy? Or are the real enemies the friends we made along the way?”

Lucretia hesitated. “As far as we know,” she spoke slowly, walking away from them. “The, the- the rogue wizards, who created all of these, uh, weapons of mass destruction, we call them the Red Robes,”

“Ohh!” Magnus and Merle exclaimed in unison, Magnus’ eyes immediately darted to Taako, who looked back at him with an expression that discouraged him from asking any questions.

“As far as we know, they are- all gone.” Lucretia continued. “But if in your journey you happen to-”

“Yeah, we found one,” Merle nodded, pointing at Taako, who felt his heart jump in his throat, for a moment, before Merle added “A dead one. In the cave.”

“Oh- that- yeah.” Taako shook his head.  _ Good one for almost giving me a heart attack, Merle. _

“Well, not everyone wearing red necessarily has to be one of them,” Lucretia smiled, turning towards them. “But keep an eye out, just in-”

Taako raised the Umbrastaff. “She had this cool umbrella,” he supplied.

Lucretia froze, her smile falling instantly.

_ That’s right, Luce _ . He glared at her.  _ She’s gone. _

“Well,” she coughed. “Umbrella or not, my point still stands. Now, please follow Nick, he’ll lead you to our artificer,” One of the two guards, a tall orc, waved awkwardly at them. “And later to your dormitories. You’re dismissed.”

-

“Who the hell makes such an over complicated system to distribute magic items?!” Taako giggled as they left the artificer’s room. “And that Leon takes it too seriously!” 

“I’d say the  _ counterclockwise  _ joke was a cherry on the top!” Julia grinned, as she passed to Magnus one of the two pouches that the machine spit out for her. 

“What’s that?” Merle wondered, witnessing the exchange. 

“Leon called it a Shared Pouch of Transfer. This way we can exchange items and information when you’re off base!” 

“Such a good item!” Taako examined it closer. “I’m stuck with the cold beverages ring - which, of course, is amazing, I’ll make the best  _ cocktails _ in the world from now on, but not that useful in terms of adventure!”

“Are you sure you want everyone to think you’re some kind of dimwit, though?” Merle asked out of the blue. “Seems counterproductive.”

“What makes you think I’m not some kind of dimwit who’s really good at pretending to be a good wizard?”

“Because you creep me out.” Taako’s smile fell. Merle continued, “Dunno what you’re intentions are, but you’re creepy as fuck when you go all serious!” 

“Merle!” Magnus cried, offended. “That’s not a nice thing to say.” 

“Well, whatever. You three seem to have been buddy-buddy for a while, I’m just in this for - I dunno, it feels right what this place is trying to do.” At some point during this conversation, the four of them had stopped walking, but the guard didn’t. He kept walking until he was far enough away that it was probably safe to talk. 

“You do realize-” Julia leaned over Merle and lowered her voice, “there’s a chance the Director is not destroying the relics but collecting them?”

“That-” Merle frowned, considering that option. “She didn’t seem like a bad person,” he admitted in the end. “She did stop the war, maybe it wasn’t that pure of a choice but it was all she could do at the time!” he insisted. “I’m sorry, but I think that I’ll consider her a good person until proven wrong!”

“I never said she was a bad person,” Taako grimaced. “But  _ good  _ people can do bad things.”

“Taako,” Julia looked at him. “You  _ know _ her, don’t you?”

The elf just shrugged, his lips pressed in a thin smile.

“She would have said something, though,” Merle noted. “Wouldn’t she?”

“That staff she was holding,” Julia continued, without taking her eyes off him, “was it a Grand Relic?”

“I’m not sure,” Taako admitted in the end. “Could be a copy-” he started to explain before he realized the orc guard was running towards them.

“Please keep up the pace,” he panted as he caught up with the group, “it would be awful if you got lost on my watch!”

-

Taako and Merle were escorted to a common dormitory they shared with an halfling alchemist who turned half of the room into his personal laboratory, while Magnus and Julia - married couple privileges - got a double bedroom for themselves.

Exhausted by the events of the day, they immediately took the chance to  _ rest _ .

When Taako walked back to the room from the lavatory - a bundle of cleaned clothes under his arms - the halfling was snoring but Merle was still awake and sitting on his bed.

“I’m sorry,” the dwarf said. “I’ve been real mean to you, that’s not how a holy man should ever act.”

Taako waved a hand, “Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it. Cha’boy isn’t bothered one bit,” he shrugged and jumped on the mattress.  _ Oh, yes, _ it had been too long since he slept in an actual clean bed. “I’m sorry I left you in the cave,” he mumbled, face pressed against the pillow.

“Didn’t catch that,” Merle grinned.

“Well, that fucking sucks ’cause Taako ain’t gonna repeat it!” Taako turned his head. “Go the fuck to sleep and if you have wet dreams about plants I swear I’m gonna kick you on the floor.”

“How do you-” Merle frowned, but then, apparently deciding he was too exhausted to care, shrugged and laid down, closing his eyes.

When he was sure Merle was asleep, Taako extended his hand, grabbed the Umbrastaff and dragged it under the covers with him, holding it tightly against his chest, as he curled up under the sheets.

-

Julia was still awake, and she could tell by her husband’s breathing he wasn’t asleep either. When she slipped under the sheets and laid her head against his chest, he smiled and started stroking her hair.

“Long day, huh?” he laughed, looking at her like on the day they got married.

Julia wasn’t smiling, though.

“What’s wrong?”

Julia sighed and shifted to a more comfortable position. “Look, I haven’t said anything before because there hasn’t been a chance to, but-” she took a deep breath. “My mother and brother lost their lives in the Relic War. They joined a local adventuring party to search for an item that could turn anything into gold,” she explained. Magnus listened quietly. “They never came back and we never knew what happened to them- but instead of looking for them or following, a few days later we just... _ forgot _ .  _ I forgot I had a mother! And a brother! _ I get it, the Director was trying to save the world, but  _ she took them from-” _

“Jules…” Magnus started, speechless. “I- I didn’t- “ he embraced her. “I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head and hugged him back. “We forgot and our lives were peaceful, we forgot and the War was over. Two days later you arrived on our doorstep and-” she stopped, looking up in shock as she seemed to have realized something. “That woman!”

Magnus raised an eyebrow.

“The woman who brought you to Raven’s Roost-  _ it was Madame Director _ !”

“Was it?” he frowned. “Are you sure?”

Julia opened her mouth to answer but something stopped. “But she looked younger,  _ much younger _ ,” she shook her head. “Maybe I’m just getting confused.”

“That’s likely the case,” Magnus kissed her on the forehead.

They stood still like that in silence for a few minutes, Magnus’ breathing slowly becoming more regular as he started to fall asleep.

“Taako-” Julia spoke again. “Taako probably used to be one of those Red Robes.”

Magnus opened his eyes, and started blinking fast. “What?”

“I mean, he knew the Director’s staff was- or at least  _ resembled _ a Grand Relic. He took the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet without using it...there’s the skeleton of the elven woman we found wearing a red robe, and the way he acted in the Director’s office. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Magnus didn’t answer, his eyes unfocused.

“Maggie?”

He shook his head and smiled at her. “Yes? I’m sorry, you were saying?”

Julia hesitated to answer. “Nothing,” she smiled. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. I love you, Jules.”

Julia laid against his chest, silent but worried. She’d seen that vacant look in Magnus’ eyes before, every time she asked him about his past - every time he’d lose his train of thought and forget what they were even talking about.

They’d drank the voidfish’s ichor, their memory should have been fixed and yet Magnus’ still wasn’t. There were other powers at work here.

And she was determined to find out about them.


	13. daggers in men's smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Our separated fortune shall keep us both the safer. Where we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in blood, the nearer bloody._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 3_

When Barry walked into Buffin’s tent, a big shoulder bag full of books, a satchel full of spell components, and a hooded cloak covering him, she knew immediately this would be the last time she’d see him. 

“You’re going then,” she said simply. 

“Yes,” Barry nodded, lowering his hood. 

It had been months since he sent Taako on the trail of the Rockseeker dwarf and left with his friends for a town c̷̨͝a͟͝͠l҉̶̴҉l͠e̛͘͢͡d̢ ̸̸̡͢P̸̧͡h̷̷͟a͘n̕̕͏̷̕d̶̡̛͠a̸l̢͡i̕n̕҉̨ whose name he couldn’t exactly focus on. 

Since then, Taako didn’t return to Neverwinter, nor he did send any letter. Had he found Lup? Was he in danger? It was with a heart heavy with anxiety that he resigned from his position at the university and decided to turn to adventuring.

“I need to be able to defend myself, I need to remember how to fight,” he told the witch. 

“You’re stronger than you look,” she nodded, “much stronger. I can feel it, but beware the retinue of the Raven Queen, for they will hunt you down if you reveal yourself to them.”

“Well, that was ominous,” Barry said aloud, blushing once he realized he did. “Can you help me or not, Buffin?” He wasn’t really in a hurry but he couldn’t wait idly anymore for news to come his way. The time he spent with Magnus, Taako and Julia was a pleasing distraction from his monotonous life, but now that they were gone, the drive to find his love was keeping him awake at night. 

“I don’t know the future, I can only help you uncover one’s past.” The witch smiled. Barry had visited her several times in the past few years and, although she would never admit it out loud, he had become less of a client and more of a friend. 

“I know. That’s why I need to remember how to fight on my own, to take the matter into my own hands.” He insisted. 

Without even asking for a payment first, Buffin started chanting, following the same routine that allowed her clients to delve into their memories and search around the Mist. 

Barry closed his eyes, he was fighting beside a burly young man - once again his features were impossible to recognize but from his build and auburn hair it could have very well been  _ Magnus _ . The enemies around them, many of them, were all enshrouded in Mist, invisible and deadly. 

_ Go back to the ship! _ The Barry of the past screamed before something pushed him back and slammed him against a rocky surface. 

Barry couldn’t help but wince as he saw his own body fall limp, limbs bent with impossible angles, neck snapped in half. How did he even recover from something like that? 

And then, from the still body, a shadow rose, crackling with power. It raised a skeletal hand and with a wave of energy he completely disintegrated the surrounding enemies. 

Barry’s eyes snapped open as he fell backwards, skin coated in cold sweat, the tent and Buffin’s small figure dancing in front of his eyes. 

“Wha- Wha- What the hell…” he blubbered, looking at his own shaking hands. “ _ What the hell _ ?!” 

Buffin grinned. “So now you know.”  _ You’re more dead than alive _ . She’d told him the first time he entered her tent. 

He swallowed, pointlessly. His throat was drier than the Woven Gulch. “I’m - I’m a -” he hiccuped, “ _ Shit _ !” 

_ There was no fucking way Taako hadn’t known this _ .

-

In the next few days there was little for the four of them to do but settle in and get used to living on what the locals affectionately called  _ The Moonbase _ . Merle took a liking to the greenhouse, and the feeling appeared to be mutual: the plants had never been so luscious and regular visitors had never been as disgusted. Magnus and Julia started attending and helping at the training facility and became close to the Regulators and Regulators-In-Training.

Taako took advantage of his free time to explore every nook and cranny of the base, every accessible - and inaccessible - room, sketching a crude map in his spellbook and making notes without any order or logic:

 

  * __everything's a dome__


  * _meatloaf Monday is a disaster_


  * _the lizard is gay_


  * _don't trust Garfield_


  * _secret passages??? why_


  * _elevators_



 

There were all kinds of people on the base and Taako was quick to make a list of those to be wary of: the leader of the Regulators team, the orc woman named Killian, was first in line.

She was blatantly suspicious of him and she was  _ not subtle  _ about it. He’d caught her staring at him more than a few times and once he’d even called her out. “I know I look dashing, darling! Do you want an autograph?”

She had tried to find a reasonable answer, blushing like crazy, but in the end that exchange prompted her to stop staring at him every time they were in the same room.

On the opposite end of the scale, Taako found out the chamber where Fisher was kept was the most relaxing environment. A large number of guards was allocated at _the entrance_ but none in the room, and there was a lack of detection spells as well. The only regular was Johann, the bard whose role was uniquely to keep Fisher _fed_.

Johann was... _ interesting _ . He wasn’t blindly loyal to the Bureau, although he trusted its principles, and was more than a little bothered when Brian’s funeral - the  _ Rite of Remembrance _ \- took place, erasing proof of his existence from the world below.

_ Taako wanted him on his team _ .

He approached him one night, when he was sure most of the Bureau members were asleep. Taako had actually headed to Fisher’s chamber to find some comfort after Merle and his other roommate’s - what was even his name? Roastbeef? - sleeping habits got to his nerves. Point was, he wasn’t expecting to find Johann alone and in the middle of the night, writing something on his desk, probably sheet music as he stopped from time to time to strum on his fiddle.

“Do you have night vision? Because this room is dark as fuck, how do you work like this?”

Johann jumped in his chair, before turning around with a disgruntled expression. “Oh, it’s you.” He went back to his work. “I had an idea for a new piece and I wanted to write it down before it slipped my mind. You’re spending an awful lot of time here.”

Taako shrugged. “Ah, just wanted to check on the alien jellyfish.” He playfully knocked on the tank. Fisher made a noise of protest and swam away from Taako.

“Uh- ok- I don’t know if it’s an alien, but you can do that, it’s just weird,” Johann shrugged and went back to his work.

“So, how long have you been feeding him songs?” 

Johann sighed, blatantly annoyed by the fact that Taako really seemed to want to talk to him. “About a year, since the Bureau was founded.” 

“So you’re one of its original founders?” 

“I - I wouldn’t call myself a founder…” he stopped. “Why are you asking me those questions?” 

“Just curiosity!” Taako grinned. “For science!” 

Johann scoffed. “Then you should talk to Lucas. He’s not a member of the Bureau but he’s close to the Director. She allows him to come and go and he thinks this gives him the right to be a rude asshole.” 

_ Lucas _ . That was a name to keep in consideration. 

“Last question, then I’ll leave you to compose: you mentioned  _ founders _ . Who are these people?” 

“The Director, Davenport - although he’s just her ward - Killian, uh, someone called Maureen but I’ve never met her. Their names are carved on the floor of the main quad.” 

Taako nodded, taking this new information in. If Killian was among the founders, she probably was very close to Lucretia and unlikely to become suspicious of the Bureau. 

“Last question,” he repeated, Johann rolled his eyes, “you’ve been witnessing inoculations for a year, have you ever witnessed the... _ voidfish _ ’s powers being selective?”

“Selective?”

“Some information being blocked out, some still being hidden.” 

Johann shot him a weird look and put down his pen. “That’s not how it works.” He stated, flatly.

Taako smiled, oh this was gonna be  _ good. _ “Can you hear me when I say the Red Robes are actually a ̕se̡le͏cted tea͏m of͝ s̶c̷i̧enti͡st͞s̸ f̛r͝o͞m the̵ I҉n͡s͡t̕i͠t͜u͟t̡e͟ ǫf Pl̶a̡nar̨ ͢Res̕e͡ar̵ch҉ ̴an͡d E̶x̛p̷lor̕at̨io͠n?” 

Johann jumped on his feet. “ _ What the hell _ ?”

Taako grinned and clapped his hands. “Long story short, I think the Director is hiding another voidfish, would you like to help me look for it?”

-

When they parted ways with the kid detective, Taako announced he was gonna check on Barry while Magnus and Merle agreed on heading to the Lonely Hearts to close their tabs and recover the few things they left there when they headed to Leilon to meet Gundren.

On his way to the university, Taako stopped at a local haberdashery to buy some red cloth. He was no tailor, but he wanted to fix Lup’s uniform -  _ he had an inkling on how to use it _ since Lucretia announced a masquerade on Midsummer - and the shops on the Bureau absolutely refused to sell any red garments.

When he got to the university, it was quiet, since lectures had been suspended during the summer. Then he had a nasty surprise: the annoying gaunt cleric had taken over as the Necromantic Studies lecturer and no one, not even Liza, knew where Barry’d gone. 

Liza, predictably, had forgotten Brian ever existed and entered a new relationship with a bubbly gnome who worked at the library counter - Taako enjoyed her gossiping for almost an hour before leaving.

When he finally caught up with Magnus and Merle again, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry about Barry’s situation but he chose not to discuss it with them.

They had a Relic to turn in, gold to receive and  _ costumes _ to work on.

-

Killian took a deep breath, ready to talk, and by doing so she inhaled a massive cloud of smoke coming from the dwarf sitting across the table. 

“ _ Gods _ , Boyland, what in the blazes are you smoking?! That stuff reeks like a burning graveyard,” she coughed so hard tears formed in her eyes. 

The dwarf grinned, “A gift from my third husband. He made them from swamp reeds, smells like cow shit but you gotta enjoy the aftertaste!” 

“Dead aftertaste, delightful!” A dragonborn girl mocked him, moving slightly away. “Hey, Kills, what did you want to talk about?” She played with her fork and scraps of food in her empty plate, sitting with the others at a cafeteria table at the Bureau of Balance. 

“Yeah, what do you guys think about the new Reclaimers?” Killian asked, lowering her voice. 

The dragonborn shook her shoulders. “They seem nice. A bit aloof but - did you see their test? That was fucking awesome!” she added, her eyes glinting with excitement. 

“I thought I was the only one to find everything violent awesome, Carey,” Killian smiled fondly at her.

“No, but seriously, they kicked ass! That fighter guy moves better than a rogue, and even the wizard can make some sweet flips!” Carey continued. “They’re hardcore as fuck!” 

“I heard they killed Brian,” Boyland supplied, Carey’s smile fell. “I know he was thralled but it’s still hard to think he’s gone. Hardly anyone showed up at his Rites of Remembrance, too.” 

“That’s because he killed several seekers when he defected,” Killian reminded them brutally, “no matter how much he played the sweetheart, that dude was rotten to the core even before being thralled.” 

Boyland finished smoking his cigar and ordered a pint of ale. 

“Anyway, you were saying about the new guys?” 

Killian nodded slowly. “I know I brought them in and it probably doesn’t reflect on me too well but-” she sighed deeply, “I can’t really shake off this feeling…” 

“What are you saying?” Carey wondered with concern. 

“ _ I don’t trust them _ , especially the elf. He gives me the creeps!” Killian replied, her voice lower than ever. “He’s easily more powerful than Brian, he made a point of showing off in the cave, and he even dealt a killing blow when he was already defeated like- like some kind of sadist!” 

“Uhm-” Carey and Boyland looked at each other. “Are you talking about Taako? I’ve never seen him use anything but cantrips, and he’s basically taken over in the kitchen for the past few days, he probably made this as well,” she gestured at her empty plate, “if he had any ill will he would’ve poisoned all of us already.” 

Killian stared at her empty plate, that detail about him taking over the kitchen was absolutely new to her. 

“This might sound a little bit insane,” Killian started, “but  _ even  _ though he didn’t really do anything against us I have a theory about him.” 

“Lay it on us,” Boyland grinned. “You can’t not say it now!” 

“I think that he’s in league with the Red Robes, if not a Red Robe himself.” 

After a moment of silence, Carey and Boyland simultaneously snorted and tried to suffocate their laughter. The dragonborn girl was the first to lose and exploded in roaring laughter, causing several guests of the cafeteria to look in their direction. 

Killian groaned. “Look, I’m not saying this out of the blue! I have proof!” She hissed at her, a bit saddened by the fact that even Carey didn’t take her seriously. 

“What proof?” 

“Well, more clues than proof but-” she took out of her bag a dirty roughed up notebook. “When I met him in Wave Echo Cave he was looking for someone and he described them  _ wearing a red robe _ , he disappeared before opening the vault, but when he caught up with us in Phandalin he was  _ wearing one _ . He wasn’t surprised by the Gauntlet’s glassing of Phandalin, recovered a relic without any sign of being thralled, he claims to be an idiot I’ve seen him cast some high level spell, I’ve seen him sneaking around the base and I swear on my life that he’s planning something.”

Boyland lit another cigar and exhaled a big puff of smoke before talking again. 

“Kills,” he started, “I get where you’re coming from. But do you really think  _ Taako from TV _ , the travelling chef, the guy who uses an umbrella as a casting focus, is an evil warlock in league with those who created the Grand Relics?” he snickered, as if he couldn’t even  _ think _ it without laughing about it. 

Killian opened her mouth and closed it without replying. When he put it like that… 

“He recovered and destroyed two relics already. If he really was a Red Robe why would have he done that?” Carey added. 

“Maybe he didn’t think he could snatch them with other people around, or maybe…” she paused, in thought. “Because of guilt?” Killian tried. No matter how much her friends tried to convince her, she still couldn’t shake off the anxious feeling that something was off about the elf. 

“Ok, if that’s the case…” Carey sighed, “it would maybe make sense but also, it would mean that he’s definitely on our side!” 

Boyland nodded, approving of this hypothesis. “If you’re really convinced, you should talk to the Director. She’s the one who had contact with the Robes in the past, she’ll know if he’s one of them.”

Killian didn’t say that the Director’s behaviour was also one of the things that clued her into her theory. 

Before the Bureau even existed, when Killian was still travelling alone as a sellsword, she had found Lucretia, wounded and alone in the middle of the Felicity Wilds, the most dangerous forest in Faerun. She had saved her life and in exchange Lucretia had her drink the Voidfish’s ichor, telling her about the Relics and her quest to destroy them. 

Killian was one of the founders and the First Regulator, a title she didn’t like to flaunt around, but it meant that she was closer to the Director than anyone else in the Bureau and she had known from the moment she’d seen Lucretia’s expressions during the test of initiation that something was up with the new recruits. 

She’s seen pure anguish flash on her face when Taako used his apparently silly weapon and incredible joy when the three of them emerged victorious from the arena.

_ She knew them _ .

And Killian was also the only person on the Moonbase to know that Lucretia was a former Red Robe herself.

-

Magnus and Julia promised each other not to unveil each other’s costume before the festival and so  _ of course _ Taako and Merle played along. Taako was also pretty sure that if anyone saw what he was working on they would’ve called him out for  _ bad taste _ .

He was  _ Taako _ ,  _ from the Travelling Variety _ , he  _ dictated _ taste.

And Magnus’ decision to dress up as  _ him  _ was so absolutely fucking ridiculous and endearing that Taako didn’t even bother to check if he’d actually been stealing clothes from his room.

Julia stepped out of the dorms in cardboard armor, Railsplitter strapped on her back and fake sideburns glued to her face. She pointed at Magnus, bent over with laughter as he did the same.

Merle caught up with them, foam tentacles bouncing all around him like his makeshift fake breasts, making everyone take an uncomfortable second look at him.

But when Taako stepped out, they were out of breath.

“Woah, man, are you  _ sure _ ?” Magnus asked, dragging the last word.

Taako grinned, and without hesitation, strolled towards the main quad. “Abso-fucking-lutely,” he announced, checking the buttons one last time and lifting up the hood. “Let’s take the stage!”

As they reached the plaza, filled to the brim with games and food stands, Taako didn’t even bother to hide his grin as he saw people looking up in shock, dropping objects -  _ a man even started spilling hot chocolate on his shoes with no reaction whatsoever, amazing _ ! While Magnus and Julia purchased some finger food, Taako looked over the crowd, hoping to spot Lucretia in the crowd. She was wearing an elegant blue gown and a white fur-trimmed cloak with the Bureau’s symbol embroidered in silver thread.  _ Damn _ , she had style, but he tried not to get distracted and strolled towards her.

“Oh, boy,” Merle sighed when he realized what the elf was up to.

Lucretia had her back to them, so the first to spot him was Killian and  _ oh boy, wasn’t her expression priceless _ ? He was still a few feet away and the crowd was keeping him from approaching in a straight line, but he clearly heard Killian crushing ale mug in her hand and scream “ _ I’m gonna kill him _ !”

Taako grinned and waved at her, hand near shoulder level and wiggling the fingers.

The lean dragonborn who was always with him grabbed Killian’s arm and - laughing like crazy - tried to stop her from charging through the crowd. Finally Lucretia turned around and immediately spotted him right as he managed to slip out of the crowd.

“Taako,” her eyes opened wide in disbelief and despair, “ _ what in the name of sanity is this _ ?”

“Check it out!” he twirled on his heels, “I’m dressed as a Red Robe! One of the bad guys?!”

“Well,” the dragonborn chuckled, looking at Killian. “No one's gonna take you seriously now.”

Lucretia’s eyes were fixed on the blue patch on Taako’s left pocket. “Where did you find these clothes?” she continued, voice weak and pained. Killian was staring like she was imagining a dozen different ways to murder him.

“Is it the dead lady’s?” Merle wondered. “You fixed it up, though!”

“Yup!” Taako replied, popping the  _ P _ . Lucretia wobbled on her feet like she was going to faint. “Hey, check it out! Mango dressed up as  _ me _ ! Where did he go?” he scanned over the crowd, a hand over his forehead as if to block the sunlight.

“Please,” she said weakly. “Go get changed, there are  _ a number of ways _ that is so  _ inappropriate _ .”

Taako huffed his cheeks, faking disappointment. “I thought it was  _ brilliant _ .”

“Oi! There you are!” Magnus waved a hand, he was holding something in his hand, something definitely fried and  _ phallic _ .

“Is that fucking  _ fried unicorn dick _ ?” Taako giggled, “Where did you get that?”

Davenport caught their attention, he was holding a basket with a number of blackened pieces of glass to watch the eclipse with. As his eyes landed on Taako he started blinking quickly and shaking his head, Lucretia was fast to turn him around and point him towards another crowd of people.

When she turned around again, she had put back on her Madame Director persona. “The eclipse is starting soon, but  _ you are  _ going to throw away those... _ garments _ before the end of the fair.”

Taako stuck out his tongue, as he grabbed his glass and started looking up.

The yearly solar eclipses were still an incredibly interesting novelty for Taako. His homeworld never had the two suns completely covered at the same time. The whole being able to see the stars in the middle of the day was incredibly fascinating both from a scientific than from a poetic viewpoint.

The thin disk slid slowly over the sun and the flare lit up as the crowd cheered and welcomed the awaited event.

And then it hit.

_ No. _

As soon as the sky went dark, chaos screamed from the sky, a cacophony of whispers projected directly in their minds that made everyone fall to their knees in pain. It was painfully, devastating and  _ familiar _ because that was the broadcast of  _ the tainted melodies of Legato, absorbed by the Hunger _ , as they hit their planar system.

_ Please, no. _

The sky lit up with hundreds of  _ eyes _ of all shapes and sizes, looking down at them, pinpointing their position, but the only one who were still conscious to see them were Magnus, Merle and himself. Even Lucretia and Davenport had fainted.

_ Please, no! _

Just as it came, it passed. The sun returned and people started to wake up.

“I think I got some bad unicorn dick!” Magnus groaned, as he started to help Julia and others who just woke up to stand up again.

Taako was still. The glass shard fell on the ground with a clean  _ clink _ and in a sudden motion of rage he  _ stomped  _ on it, a scream of frustration  _ blocked  _ in his throat.

“Uh? Taako?” Merle called, weirded out by this apparently unprompted need to lash out. “You might want to give us a hand here?”

Taako turned around, scanning the quad and the dozens of prone people and stopping on Julia. Suddenly, this world he was finally starting to consider home,that he was warming up to, that he was accepting and enjoying was, once again,  _ nothing. _ For everyone else, nothing had changed, but for him, in a second, everyone in the main square was instantly  _ dust _ .

_ The countdown had started _ .


	14. small things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Small things make base men proud._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Act 4 Scene 1_

The days following the Midsummer Festival were simultaneously the longest and shortest days of Taako’s life. His frantic search for the second voidfish had turned into an even more frantic search for the Starblaster -  _ last resort, last resort _ \- as he roamed the base like a madman, entering private rooms, examining the walls and doors, sometimes even passing out from exhaustion in the weirdest of places.

Worried about his behaviour, Magnus and Julia tried to get him into a normal sleep schedule, but he wasn’t some kind of helpless baby! He needed to  _ do something _ . When he realized a week had already passed, he felt physical pain in his gut. Time was running out and them smothering him wouldn’t help.

Ironically, the one who helped him calm down was Johann, by leading him to the Seekers’ core of operation: a large dome hosting a huge - and severely disorganized - library where the Bureau had collected all chronicles, journals and history books regarding the war.

Lucretia’s sense of order - or the lack of it - projected very well in that library that honestly looked more like a bookworm dragon’s hoard than a proper collection of books.

“Davenport!”

The high pitched voice made Taako’s spine straighten as he moved through the bookshelves into an area where three seekers were smoking - two of them playing chess. Davenport, a pile of books in his hands, was  _ glaring  _ at them, probably since they decided smoking cigars in a place full of paper and parchments was a good idea. Their mocking grins left no doubt about the person they were discussing.

Taako leaned on a bookshelf next to the entrance, casually examining his nails before catching their attention. “That doesn’t look like a good game.”

Two of them jumped, the third just stared at the elf, narrowing his eyes. “It’s called  _ chess _ , Reclaimer.”

“I meant making fun of…”  _ the Captain _ \- no he couldn’t say that -  _ the Director’s ward _ \- death get him before he called Davenport that - “...the little guy.” Nailed it.

A second Seeker grinned, “He’s a dimwit, he doesn’t even understand what we’re saying!”

“Davenport!” the gnome stomped his feet, provoking a fit of giggles in the three of them.

Taako smirked, an idea worming into his brain.  _ Well _ , he was looking for some kind of distraction, anyway. He slowly walked up to Davenport and lifted the pile of book from his arms, putting it on a nearby table.

“I ain’t sure smoking and playing chess is Seeker work, bubs,” Taako continued, opening the top book - it was a collection of notes for someone who found Taako’s relic,  _ fascinating _ \- and feigning mild disinterest.

“Yeah, but it’s not like anyone’s checking on us,” the third man shrugged, moving a piece. “Checkmate.”

“As he s- oh, ow, shit!” the first man realized he’d just lost and with a grimace he pulled out three cigars out of a silver box and handed them to him.

Taako stared at the exchange and, realizing Davenport was doing the same, let a grin spread on his face. “Say, uh- what do you say we make- make a little bet?”

The third man looked at him and smiled. “You play chess, elf?”

“Nope!” Taako exclaimed proudly. “Davenport will play for me!”

After a moment of silence, the three of them burst out in a howling laughter, while Taako glanced at the gnome, who was staring back with a thrilled and curious expression.

“What would you like to bet?” the first man stood up and gestured for Davenport to sit in his place with an exaggerated motion. The gnome trotted to the seat and climbed up, an excited grin on his face mirroring Taako’s.

“Let’s see.” The elf rustled through his pockets, pulling out trinkets and a few copper coins for the table. “I’ve got a Wand of Switcheroo...a Pocket Spa…”

“You’ve got a cool umbrella…”

“No.” He briefly met their eyes, glaring. “Or I could just say I won’t rat you out to the Director.”

“Doesn’t really put stakes on the bet!”

Taako sighed, looking at Davenport, who was already setting the pieces back on the chessboard, itching to start playing. “Ok,” he sighed. “I’ll put all of that in the bet, and tell you what, I’m tossing my shoes in too.”

The three mean gave him a weird look. “Shoes?”

“Shoes, my dudes.” He lifted a foot, showing off a pink high-heeled leather boot. “If you put yours on the table too.”

Less than an hour later, three seekers walked out of the library, shoeless and with a dumbfounded expression on each of their faces. In the library, Taako helped Davenport cleaning the room and putting some books in place. “It was a good game, Cap…” he muttered. If Davenport heard him, he didn’t show. “It’s nice to spend some time with someone who isn’t- even if you don’t-” His hand stopped on the same book as before.

“Davenport?”

He grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. A specific sentence caught his attention. “ _ The interesting question for me about this process, although it is indeed fascinating, is how the matter remembers its original state _ ,” he read aloud. “Where is this guy from, this is well writ- uh, Phandalin, nevermind then.”

Taako sat down on a chair, crossing his legs, immersed in the pages, and didn’t even notice when Davenport walked out, a little sad he was being ignored. It was only hours later he realized his little stunt might not have gone completely unnoticed when very peculiar footsteps echoed in the library -  _ tap, tap, toc, tap, tap, toc _ \- and Lucretia herself walked into the room.

“You’re still here, Taako?” She was wearing a simple blue gown, with none of the usual ostentatious decorations, and there was a weariness to her smile Taako was not unfamiliar with. “I heard you pulled quite a prank on one of the Seeker teams,” she glanced at the three pairs of shoes on the floor. “They wouldn’t give me the details.”

“That’s- that’s how we do, I was bored,” he shrugged, not looking up but flipping through the pages faster, more distractedly, before tossing the book aside and grabbing another one from a pile.

“Can I sit?” Lucretia gestured at a chair.

“You’re the boss,” he glanced at her.

Lucretia sat down, a small sigh betraying the fatigue and tiredness in her body.  _ What in the twelve planes even happened to her _ ? Would it stick once they crossed over to the next cycle or linger on her like a curse? He itched to ask, but in her eyes he had no way to know she was supposed to be younger than she looked.

“You really should leave this work to Seekers,” she spoke once again.

“They didn’t seem very interested in  _ working _ .”

Lucretia reeled, shifting in her seat. “I...appreciate your  _ dedication _ to our cause but-”

“Question,” Taako raised a finger as he interrupted her. “What is this?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Are you trying to admonish me? To get me to confide or is it- uh,  _ usual _ for Madame Director to snoop in her employees’ private affairs?”

Lucretia straightened her back, frowning and recomposing herself. “I just wanted to talk,” she said, staring at Taako. “What happened to that robe you wore at the festival?”

_ Oh, now you care? _ “I burned it, bad taste and yadda yadda, I get it,” he lied through a shit eating grin. The enchantments on the uniforms prevented them from being burned or destroyed, but she couldn’t reveal she knew to call him out. She got trapped in her own web of lies,  _ serves her right. _

She nodded slowly, her eyes low. She looked like she wanted to add something, but instead she stood up and started to walk away.

“That’s all? I thought we were having  _ a moment _ , Madame Director,” Taako called her, a hand on his chest.

“I am your employer,” she stated, briefly turning around. “Stick to your job, please, let Davenport stick to his and don’t bother the Seekers from now on.”

“You might want to replace them, they’re fucking assholes!” he called as she walked out of the room.

When he was sure she’d left, he picked back up the book he was actually interested in and continued studying it. It had a few interesting spells he was going to try and a interesting theory about the Grand Relic of Transmutation Taako  _ itched _ to verify if he ever managed to put his hands back on it.

She’d separated them from each other and made Barry forget almost everything about Lup. But what she did to Davenport was the fucking last straw: she could have dressed him as a captain, instructed everyone to treat him with respect, implied that he was a victim of the Relic Wars but a being to be respected. Instead she put him in a neat little butler outfit and treated him as a  _ servant _ \- people were  _ mocking  _ him! Exposing her wasn’t enough. He was so going to  _ fucking turn the entire Bureau against Lucretia _ .

-

As he made his way back to the dorm, he walked past the door of the room where Magnus was staying, and stopped in his tracks when he heard loud voices coming from the other side of the door.

“Mag, let it go, whatever it is, you don't have to take it personally.” 

“I want to! You don't deserve to be treated like that!” 

In several years he knew them as a couple, he had never heard Magnus and Julia arguing. 

“It's one thing to be cranky, he can't just pretend you don't exist anymore!” Magnus cried, “What did you even do to him!” 

Taako frowned,  _ were they talking about him _ . He’d been  _ ignoring _ Julia?

_ Why shouldn’t he have _ ?

Julia, who knew from the very first moment there was a bond between him and Magnus, whom he could confess to even if - and especially because - she wasn't a member of the original crew. Julia, caring for him like a family. Julia, who he sacrificed his stagecoach to save. 

_ She didn’t matter _ anymore. She was  _ talking dust _ . 

The thought physically hurt, as he grimaced and pulled away from the door. He would need to cut her off, if she came to hate him maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad when she just disappeared.

_ It would still hurt Magnus _ . 

That didn't matter anymore, he didn't care. 

_ I don't care. Dust. I don't care. Dust. I don't care _ . Dust. 

Julia's panic as she tried to keep him from seeing Lup’s corpse. Julia’s arms outstretched as Raven’s Roost crumbled under their feet. Julia. Dust. 

Julia. 

“ _ Goddamnit _ !” he screamed without even thinking about it. He blasted a fireball at a nearby plant, that went up in a blaze. 

After a moment of still silence, the door slammed open. 

\- 

Since he had stepped into his workshop for the first time all those years ago, Magnus had felt some kind of affection towards Taako that words or rational thought never could properly explain. The wizard was aloof and sarcastic, selfish in the face of danger and in every bit the opposite of what Magnus would normally admire in a person. 

And yet, when he had returned to the destroyed Raven’s Roost and found his eyes veiled with guilt and anguish he had immediately taken his side, not even thinking about it. He had agreed to travel with him, and without realizing it he’d soon started considering him family. 

And Magnus knew it had taken him some time, but Taako had warmed up to him and Julia, he’d allowed himself to show them moment of weakness, to sleep in their presence; his smiles had become more genuine, while adventuring he would watch their backs and they would move in unison as if they’d being doing it forever. 

Everything changed after Phandalin. 

Or, to be more specific, everything changed after Taako saw that skeleton in Wave Echo Cave. 

He knew the elf had been looking for some people, he knew he had found one of them in Neverwinter, where they’d settled for a while, and was looking for another when they had accepted Rockseeker’s job offer, he knew that the skeleton in red had been one of them. 

Someone Taako clearly had cared about. 

After that day, Taako kept up appearances, playing aloof with people he didn’t trust, playing coy with the BoB employees, but Magnus realized immediately that, since he had started bringing that umbrella with him, Taako was broken. He hid deep anguish and unease behind a fool’s grin and poorly timed jokes. 

And Taako evaded each and every attempt on Magnus’ side to talk to him. 

He spoke to Julia about this: she advised against waiting for too long, or he would slip further and further away. He talked to Merle, who was still getting used to working together with them, and he advised him against butting in the wizard’s affairs. 

Then, after the Eclipse and the weird cacophony, things went even more sour. 

Especially since Taako, abruptly and with no explanation, stopped talking to Julia. Magnus was not a petty person, but he was ready to defend his wife until the end, and this behaviour from somebody he considered like a brother was unforgivable, even if Julia herself was more concerned than offended by it. 

A shout, a whooshing sound and a contained explosion was enough to stop their bickering and have them rush outside in unison. 

And there was Taako, soaking wet from the water of a rain spell that kicked off when the tree caught fire, looking absolutely miserable. 

Magnus looked at his wife, who nodded and, without missing a beat, rushed towards Taako and embraced him. 

He didn't hug her back, but didn't oppose either, he just stood still, until he slowly relaxed and let go of the Umbrastaff, that fell at his feet.

“You don't have to talk,” Julia said, softly, “you don't have to explain. But if you want, just know that I will always want to listen.” 

Taako's body was shook by a hiccup, then another, and slowly he grabbed the fabric on Julia's back, burying his face in her shoulder. 

Magnus approached, smiling softly. 

“ ‘msorry…” he heard the elf mutter, “...not dust, ‘msorry…” 

Julia looked at Magnus and made him a gesture to approach. 

Magnus grinned. “Group hug!” he announced before embracing both of them at the same time. 

“I'd join in,” Merle interrupted, observing the scene from the door, “but I'd just be holding your legs and it would be awk-” 

Magnus suddenly swept up the dwarf using a single arm and returned to the group hug. Julia started laughing. 

“Ok, alright- jeez- that's enough, we're all awkward and soaking wet now and it sucks,” Taako announced after a while, wrestling himself out of the group hug. It was impossible at this point to understand if he'd been crying or not, as he was completely soaked from head to toes. 

Magnus laughed, and Taako smiled. 

_ Fuck Lucretia. Fuck the Hunger _ . 

He was the greatest wizard in all of existence. 

_ He was going to save them _ .


	15. master a grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Well, everyone can master a grief but he that has it_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3 Scene 2_

“I have to ask, why the wolf?”

Taako grinned and slid the wolf mask over his head, looking at Hurley through its open mouth. “Because- uh, I can see myself as kind of lone wolf, I might not be the most threatening silhouette but I can- uh,  _ stand up _ for myself and work alone, and all that shit...” he improvised, not revealing the real reason he requested it was for continuity’s sake. When Magnus and Merle asked for a bear and owl mask respectively, he couldn’t pass the chance to echo the Three Great Beasts from Cycle 1.

“Ok? I admit I didn’t quite frame you as that kind of person,” Hurley smirked.

“No, I think it fits!” Magnus beamed, wearing his own mask. “The phrase  _ lone wolf  _ is a bit of an urban legend, after all.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Taako put a hand on his hip.

“Wolves are social animals,  _ they put family...the pack before anything else _ , get it?” Magnus beamed at him. “Like the big  _ dogs _ they are!”

Taako shrugged and looked away. “Whatever, man, I just thought it would look cool!”

“Aw, he’s embarrassed,” Merle chuckled, before Taako grabbed the top of the Umbrastaff and smacked him in the head with the handle.

-

The punch caught him off guard. One moment, he was standing at the feet of one marvellous cherry tree, pink blossoms showering on the pool of water they were standing in, the next Taako was prone, the side of his face on metaphorical fire, and water was soaking in the clothes he had been wearing for the race.

It took him a few seconds, during which the world kept spinning in front of his eyes, to realize how badly he was going to fuck up. The Sash- Merle’s Relic had been calling to him, offering him the power  _ to drag the moon down from the sky _ and he was about to take it. He was about to succumb to the thrall.

“What the fuck, Merle,” he groaned as he saw Merle tuck the Relic away in some pouch secured to his belt, “that thing is way too powerful!”

“Why are you complaining at me!” Merle replied, crossing his arms. “You’re the one who failed the saving roll.”

“Well,  _ yo̧̕ų  _ ̛m̵̵a̕̕d̵̢̨e̡̧ ̡͢͝į͝t͞!”

“Yeah, ‘Ko, that was fucking close!” Magnus nodded, ignoring or not paying attention to the weird burst of static. “Sorry for the punch though.”

“Don’t call me like that,  _ you punched this face _ , we’re no longer friends!” Taako stood back up on his feet, glaring at the man.

“What’s up with the static?” Merle gave him a look.

“What-?”

“You just made a kschhhh noise with your mouth, like that lass in the cave!”

“He did?” Magnus frowned. “Oh, yeah! He did! What’s up with that?”

Taako shrugged and pulled the wolf mask, that had been hanging from his neck, over his face, electing not to answer.

Merle turned towards Magnus. “We shouldn’t hear that anymore, right? We’ve been inculcated.”

“Wrong word. We will talk about it. For now let's wrap this up and destroy the relic!” Magnus butted in, just as the officers of the Goldcliff Militia started approaching. 

Taako nodded. It was about time he clued the two on them on his plan - how much he could, anyway.

-

Captain Bane had not only closed the door to his office, when he had invited the three of them in, but he'd also made sure no one else was around. It was suspicious enough for all of them to exchange a look and be on guard. 

_ Fucking synchronicity _ , man. Merle and Magnus might have been completely oblivious to the true nature of their relationship, but for sure some things, like the meaning of the look Magnus gave them as Bane locked the door, remained unchanged. 

When the officer opened up a bottle and offered them a glass of wine to toast, not one of them accepted it. 

_ Taako was so fucking proud _ . 

The Captain stood still, awkwardly holding the full glass in mid air. 

“Uh, this is a- this is a thirty year brandy wine-” 

“Magnus, kill him,” Merle said calmly.

“Hachi machi!” Taako jumped on his seat. “Chill out a little bit there, maybe?” he chuckled. “Yesterday you suggest we eat a guy, today you're ordering an execution like you're a gang leader!” He gestured wildly at Merle’s generic area. “You're a cleric!” 

“I was trying to keep up with the mood, plus there's this belt keeping on giving me suggestions on how to fuck -” he stopped, as if listening to a voice only he could hear, “oh, that's a good one!” 

“Eughhhh~” Magnus moved his chair a little further away from Merle. 

While this exchange took place, Bane kept trying - and failing - to speak and as a consequence he grew more and more irritated, trying to interrupt them and invite them to drink, until he finally lost it and slammed the glass on the ground. 

He unleashed two scimitars from his back and pointed at the three of them.

“Just. Fucking. Drink.” he ordered them, like in a craze. 

Taako already had a spell ready at the tip of his fingers when a skeletal hand appeared in mid hear, grabbing Bane at his throat and pushing him backwards, the swords fell and clattered to the ground. Trails of smoke rose as the magic projection burned Bane’s skin painfully and he let go a whine of pain, trying fruitlessly to claw at the construct.

“Not me!” Taako immediately raised his hands, before he realized Magnus and Merle were looking at the now open office door, where a man in his fifties was standing, runes barely visible in mid air in front of his open hand as he controlled the Chill Touch to keep Bane in place. 

A wild grin broke upon Taako's face, as he lifted his mask and jumped on his feet. “Barold!” he called joyously. 

“Taako…” Barry started, mild surprise quickly breaking into anger, “ _ Where the fuck have you been _ ?!” He strode towards Taako, pointing with his free hand at his chest.

“Oh, uh- eh eh, whoops?” a titter betraying his excitement and relief in seeing the man again. “Went to Neverwinter a couple some-odd weeks ago, you were gone, man!”

Barry straightened his back, blinking a couple of time, frustration evaporating from his features. “Oh, you were? Uh- sorry, I guess…”

“Who's this?” Merle whispered at Magnus, eyes darting from the nerd looking man to the necromantic cantrip construct glowing on  Bane’s neck. 

“Oh that's Barry! Friend of ours from Neverwinter.” Magnus introduced him, standing up and beaming at him. “He fucked a ghoul once.” 

“Ma-  _ Magnus _ !” Barry blushed the color of cherry popsicles, “How do you- That's not how I want to be introduced!”

Chill Touch dissipated and Bane fell to his knees, trying to scuttle away from the four of them and towards the door.

“You told us when we got drunk on Julia's Birthday at the Bear’s Paw,” Taako answered the half question, using Mage Hand to slam the door in Captain Bane’s face, stopping him from sneaking away. “How are you doing, my man? How did you find us?”

Barry sighed, “I have my...web of information...” he looked away.

“It’s fucking ghost summoning, isn’t it?” Taako cocked his head, smiling fondly and a little condescendingly.

“Yeah. Look, it’s what I’m good at!” Barry rubbed his neck. “But it’s still been hard, most ghosts would speak in static, where the hell have you been?” 

“We got a remunerative new job!” Magnus explained, kicking Bane in the stomach, knocking him out cold. “Kinda top secret, tho. Sorry we forgot to write.” 

“Fair enough,” Barry sighed. “So, did I give you a good lead? You found her?” 

Magnus saw the exact moment when Taako fell from cloud nine, his grin falling in a split second. He walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder in support, realizing they were talking about the woman in the cave. 

“No- well- yeah- kinda…” he mumbled, grabbin the Umbrastaff from the holster on his back and holding it with two hands. “She's- ” his voice broke for a moment. “She's  _ gone _ . Found her corpse.”

Barry’s hand extended for a moment towards the umbrella, before he pulled it back, shaking his head. “Bu- but- How long- you said she was- just  dying wouldn't have- ” 

“I know, but she wouldn't have have left this behind,” his grip on the umbrella tightened. “Something bad must have happened to her.” 

“Shit.” Barry walked past Taako in the office and started walking in circles, muttering to himself, almost tripping over Merle, bent down to grab a bottle of Silverpoint poison from the beaten up Bane's pocket. “Buffin warned me. They must’ve found her first.” 

Taako frowned, this was not a reaction he expected. “Who found her? Who's Buffin?” 

“Oh, a cleric of Istus- a  _ witch _ . She’s the one who helped me remember most things…” 

Taako's eyes widened. That was possible? If someone knew a method to walk around Fisher’s static...well, wouldn't that be a big fuck you in Lucretia’s face? 

“She told me- hold on,” Barry stopped suddenly, and in a fraction of a second got closer to Taako and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “You already knew,” he pointed a finger in Taako's chest. “ You already fucking knew I was a lich, thanks a lot for clueing me in!”

Despite everything, Taako couldn't stop himself from smirking. “I mean, you wouldn't have believed me anyway!” 

“ _ Ben believed it _ , apparently, that damn cleric had an activated holy symbol on him at all times,” Barry sighed, passing a hand over his face, and continued in a normal tone of voice. “Anyway, Buffin warned me that the retinue of The Raven Queen might be onto me.” 

“Raven Queen?” Taako raised an eyebrow, then turned his attention to Merle. “Got any idea on who that could be?” 

“Of course!” Merle replied, then proceeded on squinting his eyes and thinking very hard just to give up and shake his head. 

“You’re the worst fucking cleric...” Taako chuckled. 

“She's the goddess who presides over Life and Death,” Barry explained. “She rules over the Astral Plane, all that shtick. Her retinue hunts down people who defied those rules, in exchange for eternal or prolonged life.” 

“You think one of them got Lup?” 

“If that's the case, she's probably in the Eternal Stockade. There's no hope for me to- well, if you found her remains, with Resurrection I could try- no, I can't possibly find a 1000 GP worth diamond, plus if she's in the Stockade I can't exactly just-”

Taako rolled his eyes and slapped him. “Stop rambling. We need to finish a job. You can come with us, I'll explain when we're done.” 

“Uh, are you sure we can just bring him to the Bureau?” Magnus commented. “Are you sure that's a good idea?” 

“The what? You talking static too, now?” Barry complained, massaging his cheek.

“Yeah, he can work as a Seeker.” Taako grinned maliciously, Barry just looked at him in confusion. “I'm pretty sure the Director won't be against it.” 

“What about this guy?” Merle pointed at Bane, drooling in a corner. “He pretty much tried to poison us, shall we bring him in?”

Taako rubbed his chin, then cast Create Water in a cube above Bane’s head: it splashed down, soaking his clothes and startling him awake. Magnus grinned and lifted him up by his lapels.

“How many fucking spell slots do you have?” Merle opened his arms in disbelief, as Taako just stuck out his tongue -  _ he was almost out of ammo, but Merle didn’t need to know that _ . 

“No, p-please!” Bane shaking his hands, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me! I  _ really  _ wanted that sash but I’m not a bad guy!”

“How do you explain this, then?” Merle lifted the small bottle of venom.

Bane gasped, opened his mouth to reply but only made a choked noise before dropping his head and arms. 

Taako approached him with a coy smile. “What will you give us if we keep our mouth close?” 

“Taako!” Magnus shouted. Merle burst out laughing, enjoying where this was going. 

Bane lifted his head suddenly. “You can have the race prizes! All of them! First, Second and Third place!” He cried. “Please, don’t sell me to the Director, I made a mistake!” 

“Guys, I don’t know-” Barry started, but Magnus put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. 

“...order not touch the tree in the yard and you’ll cover for the departure of the Hammerheads,” Taako kept listing the terms. Bane kept nodding. 

And thus the four of them extorted money from the Militia.


	16. more sinned against than sinning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Close pent-up guilts, rive your concealing continents and cry these dreadful summoners grace. I am a man more sinned against than sinning._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3 Scene 2_

“Aw, shit,” was the first thing that escaped Taako’s lips when the door of the transportation cannonball opened and a crowd of BoB employees cheered for them. Barry looked around confused and slightly scared by the sudden standing ovation, he shook his head more than a few times, trying fruitlessly to focus on his surroundings. 

Two figure split from the crowd and ran towards them. “Guys! That was amazing! We were watchin’ all of the whole battle wagon race, that was like the most exciting, thrilling thing I’ve ever- Who’s that?” Avi, who’d run towards them in excitement, stopped in confusion as he spotted Barry. 

“Barry! It’s been a while!” Julia ran past Avi, recognizing Barry and hugging him, kissing him on both cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re here!” She glanced at Taako, who briefly smiled back before she went to her husband’s side and kissed him. 

Magnus laughed, lifting Julia from the ground. “Have you seen the race? Wasn’t I amazing?” 

“Now don’t take all the credit!” she poked his nose jokingly. 

Magnus turned towards Avi. “Anyway, this is Barry, he’s a friend of ours! He-” 

“If you say the ghoul thing again I’m gonna hex you,” Barry said, calm but steady. “What is this place? It’s all wrapped in the Mist...”

“He’s a smartass nerd,” Taako pointed at him, “no, but really, he can be of great help as a Seeker, can you get him inoculated?” 

“Uh- Ah- Sure…” Avi shifted uncomfortably. “This is not exactly standard procedure but I guess it’s ok since it’s you three.” He looked at Julia. “Uhm, can you bring this guy to the Voidfish chamber?” 

“Sure!” Julia nodded, pushing gently Barry’s back to get him to follow her. “Oh, right. The Director wants to see you three asap, you might want to hurry and go to her office? She uh… she seemed um, a little upset.” 

Taako rolled his eyes. “Jeez, what- Is she glued to that chair? See you later, Barold!” 

Barry, pale as a sheet, weakly waved back, as he walked away with the woman. 

\- 

Julia was right, Lucretia looked tired and upset. She didn’t even greet them properly, and instead immediately proceeded to the “destruction” of the relic. 

Taako did a quick mental recap. There were now four relics in the Bureau - wherever they went when the machine disposed of them - the three still out in the world were Magnus’, Barry’s and his own. Fucking ironic.  _ It would have helped if he knew where the two of them tossed theirs _ . Taako’s was gonna be harder to track since its form wasn’t exactly  _ noticeable _ . 

“I need to know something, and I need you to tell the truth. What happened in Captain Bane’s office?” 

“Oh, that!” Magnus laughed. “He went absolutely batshit insane and tried to murder us.” 

“In a very sloppy way, if I can add.” Merle nodded. 

“We beat some sense into him,” Taako grinned, “literally.” 

The Director didn’t look satisfied. “I meant with the man who followed you afterwards. You realized you were followed, right? The video feed cut off soon after the race, but we saw someone sneak into the Militia’s building after y-”

“Oohh, that’s ok, nothing to worry about!” Magnus cut her off. “He’s a friend! We brought him up with us!” 

_ Oh, boy _ . Taako suffocated a laughter. Lucretia didn’t look happy at all, hearing those words. She looked like she was about to scold them, but in the end just sighed. “I- I trust your judgment, but the next time you wish for someone else to join the Bureau, I’ll ask that you send in a formal request first. So, who is this? A member of the Militia?” 

“He’s a professor,” Taako shrugged, “at Neverwinter University. Met him a few years ago, dude is ridiculously smart but can’t hold his alcohol for shit. He’s also a bit of a workaholic so he won’t avoid doing his job like those other guys.” 

Taako could pinpoint the exact moment the gears in Lucretia’s head started spinning: she slowly straightened up and stared at them incredulously. 

A day would come when Taako would feel sick of messing with her and end his charade with style, revealing he’d known since the beginning. This was not that day . 

“I’ll make arrangement for this new recruit after I meet him. Coincidentally, I’ve hired a new Seeker as well, recently.” She announced in the end. Taako frowned,  _ a new Seeker _ ?  

“Hello, sirs!"

_ Well, fuck _ . Was Taako’s thought as the well-dressed little detective boy sauntered in the room with a big happy smile on his face and a Bracer of Balance on his left wrist. Merle immediately tried to take it off him.

“Ok, so we’re still doing this, Huh?” Angus sighed when Merle let go, realizing the bracer was stuck.

“Good to see you, kiddo. Could’ve sworn you died falling from a train,” Taako poked his head.

“The train you tossed me out from?” Angus rolled his eyes. “I survived. We even said goodbye at the station,” Angus frowned, stepping away.

Taako nodded slowly, then turned towards Lucretia. “Hey, good call in finding a new Seeker but uhm- just- just a thing.” He took a deep breath and then pointed at Angus. “ _ This is a fucking child _ .”

“Language,” Lucretia sighed. “And Angus is very independent for his age, and a very brilliant investigator,” she lovingly ruffled his hair, Angus smiled. “He was beginning to be a bit of a thorn in our sides. He- he began to take on some cases from people, planetside, who began to file these missing persons reports for people they couldn’t remember. And it began to get kinda complicated and his uh, he was getting a little bit hot on our trail so we figured y’know, if you can’t- can’t beat them, hire them.”

Taako stared at her, hoping this wasn’t the case for them as well. But Lucretia’s warm smile as she kept talking with Angus pulled on some heartstrings Taako didn’t really want to think about.

He’d rather think about the fact that they basically just got a promotion  _ and a VIP sized apartment  _ and that now that  _ all of them _ were on the moonbase, it was time to start thinking seriously about a plan. 

\- 

“So, she knows Barry,” Merle noted as they descended with the elevator back into the Voidfish chamber. 

Taako just hummed in confirmation. 

“And you knew that when you insisted on bringing him here, but for some reason neither she nor you are telling us this shit. Why?” 

“Well,  _ she doesn’t know I know _ and even if I tried to explain, it would just be blocked by the second Voidfish.” Taako replied absentmindedly. 

“ _ There’s a second voidfish _ ?!” Magnus and Merle cried in unison just as the elevator doors opened.

Taako blinked, taken aback for a moment. “Oh, shit” he managed to say in the end. “Shit, right. Ok, you can hear that- I really need to start making a list.” 

“Who said that!” an unknown nasal voice called just as they were walking towards the tank. Four figures were standing in the light of the Voidfish: one was Barry, empty vial still in his hand, who was staring at Fisher like mesmerized. One was Julia, who was trying to intercede in some kind of verbal fight between Johann and a human man the three of them had never seen before. 

“Hail and well met, human man!” Taako greeted him, with a small bow. 

“What was that?” the man asked in a nasally high-pitched voice. 

“What was what!” Magnus replied innocently. 

“There is a second Voidfish?!” he repeated. 

Taako groaned, pinching the bridge of his notes.  _ Worst timing ever _ . “You alright, Barold?” he called at the man, still staring at the tank, in an attempt to avoid the confrontation. Barry nodded, absentmindedly. The spooky lighting of the room probably didn’t help but the man didn’t look much better than when he arrived.

“You’re as pale as a ghost,” Taako said, with a giggle, before he could stop himself. Barry just groaned and rolled his eyes.

“No, nah!” Merle replied to Lucas in the meantime, “We were jesting, making an hypotenuse!” 

“Nope.” Julia said calmly. 

“Hypothesis.” Merle corrected himself. Julia nodded.

“Oh, oh, well.” The man stared, still doubtful, “Anyway, as I was saying it’s a valid hypothesis! We don’t know anything about this, we don’t know anything about this creature and we’re putting all of our faith into it?” He rambled on, making wild gestures with his arms and body, walking with long strides around the tank. 

“Well, finally someone who thinks straight in this place,” Taako muttered. 

Johann moaned. “Please, don’t encourage him…” 

“Who are you anyway?” Merle wondered, pointing at the man’s arms, “you’re not wearing a bracer.” 

“I’m- I guess you could call me a consultant.” He announced with pride. “My name is Lucas Miller…” 

Taako and Johann exchanged a brief look. So this was the person Johann mentioned. He didn’t look like much. 

“I’m just gonna go above your head there and see the Director about bringing the Voidfish to my lab-”

“You can’t do that!” Magnus cried, “Poor Voidfish! You can’t just experiment on it!”

“Uh, I don’t feel like I have the right to butt in,” Barry approached timidly. “But maybe we should let this Director lady decide?”

This was going on forever. Screw it.

“Johann,” Taako called. “ _ Naa lye varna tuulo' pryien elee _ ?”

Johann perked up. “ _ Amin intya ikotane, nan' i' tira naa sal' sinome _ .” He glanced at the two guards at the other end of the room.

Magnus’ eyes darted between the two of them. “You do realize that Elvish is not a secret language and I do understand what you’re saying?”

“And when did you learn it?” Julia wondered, surprised and impressed.

“Whatever! This discussion is derailing and I’d like it Back On Track, please, thank you!” Taako exclaimed. “Barold!” he pointed at the man, who winced, “you take those guards with you and go see the Director. Keep your eyes open and don’t say anything more than necessary! Yip, yip! Go!” he clapped his hands as if he was inciting a horse to run. Barry made a face, rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Now, I want y’all to keep your ears very open ‘cause Cha’Boy is gonna blow your mind!” He announced once the elevator doors open and the six of them only were left into the room. He paused for just enough time to bask in their attention: despite everything he was still a showman at heart.

“Oh, are we doing this  _ now _ ?” Johann perked up.

“You bet,” Taako grinned. “Now, just to set things straight. I’m a̛ st͘u̸de̷nt o̶f͝ the I҉n̶s̡tit͞ut̢e o͝f Plana̸r̡ R͢esear͜ch̴ a̸nd̛ Explo̶rat҉ion̷ and ̷co-c͝hie͠f ̧ar͟c͠ani̴s͘t҉ of̸ ̕t̢h̛e҉ ̸St̷a҉r͜b̨l͠ast̴er ͡e͏x̷trapl͠anar ͘m͘issio͞n̨. The͟ I͜nst͡itu̧t͞e ͏or I̧PRE͞ ̢for s͡hor̛t̢ i҉s͟ ̶a̷ ͝s͠c͟ie̸n͞t̨i̡fįc͏ ҉gr̷o̕up who҉s͠e ̕pu͡r̵p͢ose is t͘o d̶e̶st͡roy̕ ͘a̵n e͡nt̵i͝ty͡ w͝e ͏c̷a̴ll̡e͝d Th͢e̛ H̶un̶ge͡r̨, that will̷ brin҉g͢ ab̛out ͡the ̴ęnd͠ of̴ t̡hę wo͡r͟l҉d in  uhh- 11 months? Shit, that’s not a lot. Got any of that?”

Lucas’ mouth fell open, frown turning in a brief pained smile and then a shocked expression in fast succession. “ _ Hypothesis _ , huh?” he chuckled nervously at Merle. “Do  _ you _ have a second Voidfish?”

Taako glared at him. “Nah, I wish. Nah, Luce has- I mean, Madame Director. It’s kinda obvious when you put the pieces together, but I’ve scoured all of this base and found no trace of it! I’m losing my goddamn-” he stopped and took a deep breath. “Anyway, I-” he groaned, “I need help. I need to find it,  _ it will help us find the relics too _ , trust me on that.” He looked up and saw Julia staring back at him, nodding briefly.

Lucas started nodding excitedly. “I- I have maps of the base and I can help! I’ve been suspecting Lucretia was hiding something since mom-”

“Hold on, hold on, wait a second!” Magnus stopped them. “The Director’s name is  _ Lucretia _ ? How do you know that?”

“Uh, mom used to be close to her, they built this place together-” Lucas started.

“No, I meant Taako,” Magnus pointed at him. “You said  _ Luce _ .”

“That I did,” Taako groaned.  _ He couldn’t believe that slipped so easily _ , it had been a long day. “Look, it will become clear once I get that fucking baby jellyfish away from-”

A loud noise, like a echoing hum of a whale echoed in the chamber, interrupting them. The lights inside of the Voidfish glinted, and another noise played, and then another. Three notes. And then it started over, singing those three notes in succession, the loud hums pervading the chamber.

“What the fuck?” Lucas gaped.

After a moment, Johann rushed to his desk and grabbed a lyre, fiddling with it for a bit before he found these three notes and played them, echoing the Voidfish’s song.

After a beat of silence, a new higher note played, a succession of four now. Johann adjusted the melody and started playing in unison, a calm smile spreading on his face.

“What’s going on? Is it supposed to do that?” Lucas frantically looked at Taako.

“I think,” the elf grinned, “they’re saying they’re on board with the plan.”

-

Lucretia was pretty sure it was going to be Barry to enter her office, but she managed to still be surprised when he stepped in the room, looking around in wonder.

_ He let himself go _ , was her first thought when she saw him. Seeing Taako alone felt  _ wrong _ , but on Barry the effect of all those years without Lup was more than apparent: the man was  _ old _ , in his late 40s by now, with pepper and salt hair and a physique out of shape.

“Hello,” he waved cautiously. “Uh, good evening. My name is Barry Bluejeans- actually, no it isn’t- everybody calls me that- except no, they don’t- I go by Barry. Hallwinter. Sildar Hallwinter, people just call me Barry, I guess because I wear denim pants- no wait-”

Angus, standing by the window through which the device used to destroy the relics could be seen, coughed to cover a laugh, and Barry immediately stopped talking.

“Good evening, Barry. Welcome to the Bureau of Balance. Has anybody filled you in what our purpose and methods are?” Lucretia kept her expression blank as she started explaining. It wasn’t part of her plan to involve him, she had set him up with a good life.  _ How did Magnus and Taako meet him _ ? What happened to the headmaster of the university, the good man she left him with? Lucretia hoped that at least she could keep him out of harm’s way.

_ Barry dying was truly the nightmare scenario _ .


	17. the chimes at midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow._   
>  _That we have, that we have, that we have. In faith, Sir John, we have. Our watchword was “Hem, boys.” Come, let’s to dinner; come, let’s to dinner. Jesus, the days that we have seen! Come, come._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Act 3 Scene 2_

They decided to enact the plan on Candlenights. They needed the Director out of her office, focused on literally anything else but work for a stretch of time long enough to act, and the winter celebration was their best chance. 

So while everybody else was busy making or buying gifts, seven people revised their plan. 

Johann was one of the least suspicious and threatening people in the entire bureau. Together with Julia, he would leave the party as soon as the Director arrived and head right into her personal chambers, following the route Lucas showed them. There was a corridor behind her private office, and a small room at the end of it was Johann and Julia’s objective. 

Lucas gave them the blueprints of the base, despite his long relationship with Lucretia, and had no second doubts once he received proof that the director was hiding something big. Taako knew his kind, the kind driven by the impulse to  _ know _ and  _ discover _ . 

Barry and Lucas would not attend the Bureau’s party. Lucas had revealed he had a way to confirm whether or not Lup was taken by the Agents of the Raven Queen, Taako had no heart to postpone Barry's search for Lup.

Merle and Magnus would draw the Director’s attention, while Taako, with the excuse of handling the catering, would come and go from the cafeteria kitchen and, when the time was right, head to the main quad. 

Lucas’ blueprints’ most valuable information was the large hangar in the bowels of the fake moon. If the little Voidfish wasn't in Lucretia's vault it would certainly be on the Starblaster and Lucas had confirmed Taako’s suspicions that the interstellar ship was underneath the Bureau main square. 

Thus came the night before Candlenights. 

The party split up. 

And everything went to shit. 

-

‘ _ Try to write stuff down, maybe it’ll help you figure out what went wrong _ .’ Merle had suggested, yeah, great idea Merle, way to dwell on the problems. Taako flipped another page of the notebook and started another list, charcoal dying his fingers black. 

_ From Taako’s Journal of absolute fuck-ups, version 9842-WHO-FUCKING-CARES. _

_ Pros: _

 

  * __Luce still in the dark__


  * _Boyland is dead_ _._


  * _Met a hot Reaper, secured a date (?)_


  * _Found the Starblaster -_ _last resort_


  * _Killian calmed the fuck down_


  * _My Stone won’t hurt anyone anymore._



 

_ Cons: _

 

  * __I fucked up__


  * _Julia is in the brig_


  * _Magnus hates me_


  * _Boyland is dead_


  * _Lucas is gone and an asshole, why the fuck did I even trust him_


  * _Voidfish not found - Johann bailed_


  * _Lup not found_



 

He ripped out the page, burned it with a cantrip and started over.

-

The four of them never really struck Killian as the type of people who would be excited for festivities, and yet, as Candlenights approached, they appeared to be dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to the winter celebration: between catering, decorations, and gift making, the four of them were always busy and running around the base. 

As she kept tabs on him, she quickly found out that Taako was the one in charge of organization, and this did not come as a surprise to her when she found out. She snatched a note he handed Julia when he crossed paths with her one day in the corridor.

She never meant to be subtle - she was no rogue and Carey’s attempts at teaching her were anything but fruitful - but Julia immediately noticed the theft and demanded the note back with more urgency than natural.

“What is this?” Killian asked out loud. On the note, on a neat handwriting, there were times and the names of different cuts of meat.

“It’s for a recipe Taako is trying out for Candlenights,” Julia explained, doing a bad job at hiding her nervousness. “He asked me to gather ingredients.”

Killian narrowed her eyes. Weird layout for a shopping list. Until then she had only suspected the elf, but were all of them in on this? 

She didn’t manage to get any more clues before the very celebration day, when all the employers still on base gathered in the main square. Things took a weird turn when the Director arrived: there was a brief exchange of gifts and then- first Julia approached Johann and the two of them walked away together, then Taako took an awful long time coming back from the kitchen.

“Shit,” she hissed, realizing he had slipped away under her nose. She rushed to the cafeteria only to find it empty and clean:  _ he’d conjured all the food to make it look like he was cooking _ . She ran through the domes until finally she spotted the elf near a tree, in the grassy quad in the middle of the Bureau, sliding a hand down the bark. 

“Hey!” she called, striding towards him. She extended her arm and let a short blade slip out of her sleeve in her open hand. 

“Fuck,” he managed to say just before Killian grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him against the tree, holding the knife to his throat. “I’m onto you, you’re a goddamn Red Robe, aren’t you?” she gritted her teeth. “What is it that you’re trying to do here?” 

Taako looked at her with only a mild annoyance. “I’d say you caught me red handed but that would be a terrible pun-” 

“Stop goofing around and- !” she instantly stopped talking when a gap appeared, running down the length of the lawn. A sound of machinery filled the area as a large staircase formed, descending towards a large area underneath the quad. Killian’s surprise made her loosen her grip and the wizard was able to slip away and run down the stairs as they were still unfolding.

Killian let a couple of curses escape from her mouth as she followed him -  _ he was dexterous for a damn spellcaster _ \- into a large empty area where artificial lights shone on the sleek silver shape of a  _ boat _ . Or at least, Killian assumed it was a boat: the bottom was flat as it laid on the ground straight up, there was no mainmast, no sails, and a huge magitech ring was attached to the stern, spinning slowly. 

To Killian’s stupor, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Taako slowed down and started walking slowly towards the ship. When he finally was close enough, he leaned on the hull, first with his open palms and then with his forehead and stood still for a few seconds. 

“What is this?” Killian murmured, approaching. 

“ _ Eska _ .” 

Killian was no expert, but she was familiar with the Elvish word for  _ home _ . Before she could ask any more questions, Taako had pressed an hidden panel on the hull and entered a code to make a metallic gangplank extend to the ground next to them. Killian followed him up until the wizard turned around to face her, with an undeniably hostile expression. 

“I’m on a schedule here, so you can either follow me and don’t interfere or stay exactly where you are until I deal with you.”

Killian felt a shiver. This was not Taako, the goofy cooking wizard who claimed to be too stupid to use the Relics. This was the wizard who absolutely destroyed Brian, who collected two Grand Relics and resisted their thrall. Before she knew it, her suspicion and distrust had turned, in an instant, to  _ fear. _

\- 

There were two (2) guards in front of the Director’s office. Julia and Johann were expecting zero (0) guards. 

“What do we do?” The bard fidgeted with his lyre, hiding around the corner with Julia, who kept musing on the situation. 

“You stay hidden, I’ll take care of it!” She rolled up her dress and sleeves. She had carefully chosen her clothes, fancy enough for Candlenights but comfortable enough to let her move and eventually fight.

“I think this is an awf- and she’s gone.” Johann sighed, dejectedly. 

“Hey, boys!” Julia greeted them jovially, approaching with big steps. “What’s wrong? Not going to the celebration?” 

The guards exchanged an undecipherable look. “Madam Director asked us to keep guard,” the first explained stoically. He was a bald dark skinned man easily the size of Magnus. Julia wasn’t frail but looked tiny in comparison.

“Even during Candlenights?” Julia marvelled, hands on her hips. 

“ _ Especially  _ during Candlenights,” the other said. This was the orc guard who had escorted them to the dorms when they joined the Bureau, he sounded bored but kept impassive in front of the woman’s apparent goodwill. “Um, if I can ask, what are you doing here?” he continued, tightening the grip on the spear at his side. 

Julia smiled, “Just wanted to invite the Director to join us! No need to be so cold!” 

“Madam Director already headed towards the celebration hall.” The man announced, tone flat and eyes staring straight in front of him. “She forbid entrance to her office. Please leave, or we’ll be forced to sound the alarm.” 

“Well, that won’t do,” Julia nodded and motioned to leave before turning around and kicking the man straight in the testicles. Johann, looking at the scene from afar, winced. 

The guard fell to the ground, groaning and drooling in pain, as the orc fumbled in surprise and pointed the shaking tip of his spear at Julia, extending an arm to pull a lever on his left. 

Julia stood still, the blade a few inches from her throat, until she heard a song playing and she realized the guard was paralyzed. 

_ “You should really knock him out, _

_ Before he understands uh- what this thing is really about. _ ” 

Julia blinked, staring in confusion at Johann, who had come out of hiding, ad the paralyzed guard, still not pulling the alarm lever. 

“ _ It’s a spell which name’s Enthrall, _

_ Please hurry, I don’t really want theDirectortorealizeI’vegoneawol. _ ” 

Julia nodded and ripped the spear out of the orc’s hands and slammed its handle on the back of the man’s head. 

Johann stopped singing with a sigh of relief when he toppled unconscious to the ground. 

“I never realized you could do magic!” Julia commented in awe, as she dragged both fainted guards to the wall away from the lever and tied up their arms and legs with rope she had on her. 

“I’m a  _ bard _ ,” Johann retorted, somewhat offended, as they entered the office. “Of course I can do magic.”

“I thought it was your profession, not your class.” She laughed, “I’m impressed, really.” 

Johann smiled a little. “So what now?” 

“The door of the left leads to her private office,” she remembered from the blueprints. "Let’s start there."


	18. a walking shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5_

Lucretia fought to keep a straight face and not smile as she joined the rest of the Bureau staff in the Cafeteria for the Candlenights celebration. The tables had been moved to the end of the room and were full of dishes both savoury and sweet - Taako requested to be in charge of catering and Lucretia didn’t hesitate one moment before giving him full control over the kitchen.

People all around were smiling, dancing, chatting and eating. _ They have no idea this could have been their last Candlenights _ . She fought back that intrusive thought as she walked calmly towards Magnus, who was showing a couple of guards a complicated wooden puzzle he made.

Only a few were missing, visiting their families and friends, like Barry, who justified his absence saying he was invited to celebrate with his former colleagues in Neverwinter. Lucas was missing too, but Lucretia didn’t blame him: Maureen’s death shortly after Midsummer hit both of them hard, and although Lucas refused to reveal any details about it, Lucretia had a feeling it had something to do with The Hunger’s arrival.

“Hey, there!” Magnus rushed towards her as if to hug her, and Lucretia raised a hand to stop him, despite the fact that deep down she really missed his rib-crushing hugs. She was Madame Director now, she had to keep a distance. 

“What is that?” she instead pointed at the puzzle Avi was trying desperately to solve. It looked like a wooden snowflake made of three different types of wood, and despite clearly not being glued, they seemed impossible to move around. 

“There’s a special prize for who can solve it, would you like to try?” Avi handed it to her, clearly giving up. 

Instead of working to solve it, Lucretia just looked at it, impressed. “Did you make it?” 

Magnus laughed, “Together with Jules!” 

Lucretia smiled softly. It warmed her heart to see how much Magnus cherished and loved his wife: this thought only reinforced her wish to protect that world. If only she had a clue on the position of the last two relics. 

She had to figure out how to retrieve the Bell from that heinous place, too. 

“-dame Director?” a voice shook her from her thoughts. She blinked and looked around to realize Magnus had gone back talking to Avi and other people, beside her now there was only the figure of the lithe dragonborn. 

Carey was wearing a green dress that mimicked the sheen of her scales, she looked absolutely amazing, and yet there was nothing but worry in her eyes. 

“You look amazing, Carey,” Lucretia smiled, “Is there something wrong?” 

“Have you seen Killian? I’ve been looking for her but-” she stopped, looking around. “They’re missing too…” 

“Who’s missing?” Lucretia frowned. The room was packed with people, it was impossible at a first glance to see if anybody had walked out.

But then she started to notice the details. The music came from a magitech device, and it was one of Johann’s melodies so Lucretia didn’t realize immediately the bard had left. The catering table was always crowded, but as she approached she immediately realized the one who’d been standing behind it when she entered was gone too. Magnus went from guest to guest, giving out wooden carved ducks -  _ oh, Magnus _ \- and talking about his and Julia’s puzzle box, but the woman, who’d always been at his side while on base, was conspicuously absent.

And now Killian.

A weird quartet, that she couldn’t really see working together, but for some reason, for a moment, their lack of presence made the ground wobble under her feet.

-

Barry stared at the sapphire crystal, hands gripping the wooden frame, concentrating to move the perspective and frowning to discern the details of the wispy moaning faces of the prisoners of the Eternal Stockade. He didn’t remember what Lup looked like, he only had her name, the echo of a laugh and the feeling of emptiness he’d walked hand in hand with for the last ten years. He didn’t remember her face, but he knew she looked very similar to Taako, so that’s what he was looking for. 

He channelled his power into the crystal, making the image flutter and shift to another room of the astral prison, another batch of wayward souls writhing and contorting in the darkness. As the image changed, Barry felt another spell slot evaporate, he was almost at his limit for today. 

Lucas, who had been working on some kind of mechanical doll in the corner of the room, peeked over his shoulder. “Any luck?” 

“Not yet,” he announced, preparing to channel his power again, but Lucas stopped him, gripping forcefully his shoulders and leaning forward. “Hey, what’s wrong?” 

“That’s-” he murmured, eyes open wide, staring at a figure contorting more than the others, her wispy bluish form was corrupted by dark filaments that rung a bell of alarm in Barry’s head. Lucas touched the sapphire with both hands, pushing Barry out of the way. “I found her!” he exclaimed, as the sapphire lit up, startling the figure, who was now staring directly at them. 

It was a woman wearing a tattered chador. She looked back at them and then  _ screamed _ \- a noise like grating gears - and flew through the sapphire and into the laboratory . 

“What the hell!” Barry screamed, stepping backwards and falling on the floor as this wisp of azure and dark blue light chaotically zoomed back and forth. 

“Here!” Lucas waved at it, approaching the mechanical doll. The blue wisp speeded towards it and crushed into it with a blinding flash of light, the fuse in the robot’s chest lit up and the doll started twitching. 

“Lucas, what the hell have you done?” Barry hissed.  _ Stealing souls from the Astral Plane _ was  _ very bad _ Necromancy, not simply frowned upon, but  _ wrong  _ to every definition of life and death.

He had been planning to the same, but that was different.  _ Lup didn’t deserve to be there _ . 

“It’s ok, it’s ok!” Lucas grinned, “I’ve done this before!” He turned towards the doll, eyes full of joy and relief and  _ love  _ as he called, “Mom?” 

The doll stood still and silent for a long minute before she arched her back and emitted another ear piercing scream, lunging towards Lucas with the rage of a wild beast. Barry fumbled back on his feet and cast Blight, enveloping the robot in corrosive black smoke: the construct screamed again, writhing and contorting in the spell’s grasp, but let Lucas go and Barry was able to drag him back on his feet and out of the main lab. 

Hastily, he locked the main chamber’s airlock and dragged Lucas to the elevator at the center of the lower lobby: the man was injured but deeply shaken. 

“I don’t understand…” he kept muttering. “It was her, I don’t understand.” 

As the elevator doors opened, there was a crackling sound from behind them. The two of them turned around sharply as the door they came from started turning pink and translucent, crystalline growths spurting from the surface. 

“What is going on?” Barry stared, in wonder. 

Lucas’ expression morphed into one of pure horror, as he pushed Barry into the elevator and anxiously mashed the buttons to get the doors to close. 

As the cabin started to lift them up, playing a soothing tune, Lucas started biting his nails in uneasiness. 

“Lucas?” Barry insisted, “What the hell is going on?” 

“The Stone, it got the Stone...” he simply said. “The airlocks! I have to shut the airlocks!” The doors opened to the upper lobby and Lucas stumbled into the med bay just as the crystals started appearing on that floor too. 

Barry followed suit, wondering whether punching him in the face was gonna improve the situation or not. 

-

As the water reached the ceiling, completely submerging the corridor, Julia took one last breath of air and dived back down to discover Johann was just  _ gone _ . Panicking, she looked around as her lungs started to burn, but her eyes lingered on her reflection on the metallic wall. Julia swam to it, pressing her fingertips together with those of her reflection.

“It’s not real,” her reflection’s lips moved but it was Johann’s voice that echoed in her mind, and as soon as she processed those words Julia sat up with a gasp from the floor where she’d been laying, victim of some illusion. Johann held out a hand to help her out. 

“Thank you again, what the hell was that!” she cried once she’d realized what just happened. Or not happened . 

“Illusion trap,” Johann replied, looking around nervously. “We really shouldn’t be here.” 

They had moved past the heavy door in the Director’s private office into the long corridor they’d seen on Lucas’ map. Just as they were out of the illusion, and started walking again towards the other end of the tunnel, a deafening ring filled the hallway. 

They immediately noticed what escaped their notice until then: a large round bell, hammer slamming on it repeatedly. 

“Shit,” Johann murmured. Julia turned around and grabbed his shoulders. 

“You have to get out of here.” She ordered. “If they catch me, I’ll be fine, I’ll say I was under a control spell or something. But the Director  _ trusts you _ , we all need you out of here.” 

“I- I understand.” He nodded, then darted back towards the office. Julia ran in the opposite direction, towards the old vault door at the end of the hallway. It was a heavy metallic door, but without any kind of handle or way to open it but a keypad with seven red lights on. She tried to press seven random numbers on it - 8265817 - all lights remained red but the third, that lit green for a fraction of a second before turning red again. 

“Oh, I got you,” Julia smirked. The third digit was correct: she tried a few other times and her theory was proven right when she finally got the code right - 7069420. The lock clicked and the door swung open, Julia jumped inside and closed the door behind her. 

Julia had been expecting a library or something like it, but this room was undeniably the Director’s private laboratory. Books and maps everywhere, stacked in haphazard piles, were in the way and Julia had to walk carefully between them to avoid making a mess. On a desk, at the center of the room, there were two neat stacks of empty new journals with two sets of quills and inkwells sitting right next to each other.

A map of Faerun stood out on the wall directly in front of her, larger than any other in the room, with pins and lines locating what Julia assumed to be the movements and positions of the relics through time. But here was a pin on Raven’s Roost, although no relic was ever there, so why? Had she been keeping an eye on them  _ before _ she hired them?

She forced herself to look away from the map and looked around some more. There was a dim source of light and that took her awhile to pinpoint because for some reason, she had to make an effort to focus on it. 

It was a small tank, apparently empty but Julia was pretty sure something she just  _ couldn’t  _ see was floating in the water. It took her a few moments, but the familiarity finally clicked: it was like the Voidfish’s tank the first time they saw it. Without a moment of hesitation, she cupped her hands and drank from it.


	19. hell is empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Not a soul but felt a fever of the mad and played some tricks of desperation. All but mariners plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel, then all afire with me. The king’s son, Ferdinand, with hair up-staring - then, like reeds, not hair - was the first man that leaped, cried, “Hell is empty And all the devils are here.”_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1 Scene 2_

When the Light of Creation landed in their arms, in the exact moment that the seven of them witnessed the globe of pure magic descend from the sky, they knew that that world, that place they just arrived in, that world ironically so similar to their original one was  _ home _ . 

“ _ Eska _ ,” Lup whispered, eyes lighting up with joy. She hugged her brother, then ran to Barry and kissed him. This was the world where they could finally dream of the future, this was the end of the endless journey. 

Taako remembered the moment clearly: he recalled the feeling of discomfort in seeing everyone so happy when he, instead, could feel absolutely nothing. The ship was home to him more than the world below could ever be. He remembered where everyone had been standing when they split the light, their steps still echoed through the now empty and dusty ship. 

They’d split the Light first, in seven pieces. A process simple and yet  _ so wrong  _ to the core, and began crafting their items. Taako was hesitant at first. He’d seen Magnus, Barry and Lup at a forge, working with gold and gems to craft beautiful objects, Lucretia asking Magnus’ help to carve and shape the core of an old oak tree, Merle weaving cloth from vegetal fibers as thin as silk. Davenport, despite his initial enthusiasm, was out of ideas so he simply picked up an old monocle he claimed was a family heirloom and imbued it with Illusion magic the Light provided. 

Taako shrugged, picked up a pebble from the road, made it into a Transmuter's Stone and did the same. They’d all been standing in this very same room when they revealed each other their own relics: they’d laughed at his, saying _ it was a very Taako thing to do _ . Ten years was nothing in his lifespan, and yet that moment felt so ancient and foreign as he stared around on the deck so familiar and still so empty and different. 

He saw Killian looking around in awe, passing a hand on the gnome-sized captain’s seat and observing the thick layer of dust her fingers picked up. “This place’s been empty for years,” she noted. 

Taako grimaced, heading towards the living quarters. He hated to admit it, but Killian was right: this wasn’t the place, the Voidfish couldn’t possibly have been here recently. It was a dead end, he could just hope Julia and Johann were more lucky. 

Before heading back to the deck, he headed to the kitchen, cupboards and drawers emptied - all of his equipment was lost in Raven’s Roost - and sat at the table, on the same seat where Lup had been the last time he’d seen her.

‘ _ I know we don’t say this enough...thank you. _ ’

That was the last conversation he ever had with his sister and he had just  _ dismissed it _ , gave her a weird look and walked out of the room. He never saw her again,  _ he was never going to see her again  _ and he didn’t even say goodbye. 

“Something about this place,” Killian spoke softly, as she understood that despite the weirdness of it, this was a meaningful moment for him, “reminds me of my village when it was ravaged by another clan. It’s empty but you can distinctly  _ feel _ there used to be people living here. My grandfather would say it’s  _ haunted _ .”

The corner of Taako’s mouth twitched but he didn’t look up.

“It’s beautiful, though. I can’t believe something like this is hidden in the middle of the Bureau!”

“I know, right?” Taako chuckled. “Can you imagine some random dude discovering this secret hanger while drunk one night, they reach out to hang onto this tree before falling over and  _ whoops there’s a spaceship how did that get here!” _

Killian sat down in front of him, quietly. “Someone will notice the big hole sooner or later,” she reminded him. 

“I know,” he muttered. “Just a moment.”

As Taako looked around in the dusty and empty room, he realized something that made a small smile appear on his lips. It was nostalgic, yes, but somewhat  _ distant _ :  _ he felt nothing about the ship _ , like he once felt nothing about the land below: the roles had inverted. Somehow, at an imprecise time in those ten years he’d started considering Faerun his true home.

\- 

The furniture had the same white-and-silver hues of the outside of the ship, making the atmosphere a dull grey and somewhat  _ lonely _ . Killian frowned: she’d been suspecting Taako to be part of the Red Robes - and he hadn’t exactly denied it when she confronted him about it - but were they really the dark order of mages Lucretia depicted them to be? Looking at this place, looking at Taako’s blank expression as he wandered the ship, knowing exactly where to go, she felt the seed of doubt creeping into her mind.

_ What exactly was that ship _ that seemed unable to sail any sea, that sat hidden in the middle of the Bureau, that felt so empty and yet so  _ lived in? _ What was its relationship with the Red Robes? Why did Lucretia hide it? 

“Yes, we should go,” Taako stood up abruptly, shaking her out of her thoughts. Killian followed him outside almost automatically and marveled at their sheer luck nobody walked into them. Or maybe it wasn’t luck at all? 

As the quad returned to its previous appearance, Taako turned around to face Killian and clapped his hands with a smile. “So, I guess you’ve got questions and I’ll be glad to answer to any of them. Just one thing, can they wait until after the party?” 

\- 

“Ma’am?” Angus McDonald approached Lucretia a few minutes after she asked for his help. He looked nervous, but tried to hide it, and spoke softly. 

“Yes, is there a problem, Angus?” Lucretia frowned, this wasn’t a good sign. 

“Please don’t panic,” he started. Ok,  _ very bad _ sign. “We’re locked in.” 

Lucretia straightened up, eyes darting towards the exits of the dome. She quickly cast Detect Magic and a shimmering red enchantment appeared around them, focuses embedded into the decorations of the hall. Heading towards the nearest exit, she took her Stone of Farspeech out of her pocket, when she suddenly was interrupted by Merle, who stepped in between her and the barrier. 

“Madam Director!” He announced, holding out some kind of bulb to her. “I haven’t given you my Candlenights present yet!” 

“Oh, thank you Merle, but-” 

“It’s a beach spider lily bulb,” he shoved it in her hands, “It demands a large growing pot, plenty of water and sunlight. When it blooms it gives off a nice vanilla like scent, I think it will be a nice touch to your office!” 

Lucretia looked at the bulb, taken off guard for a moment. _ That was a surprisingly good gift for Merle’s standards _ , he must’ve really thought about it. “I really appreciate it, but I’m in a hurry and right now I should-” as she walked towards the doors, all of a sudden the barrier dissipated and from another entrance Taako and Killian walked in holding a huge metal tray each, filled with a pyramid of cookies and pastries.

“Sorry for the wait!” The elf announced, “Enjoy!”

The crowd cheered and literally assaulted the trays. Lucretia observed Killian, who seemed kinda worried, stand aside as Carey approached and started talking to her. 

Lucretia shook her head, it was time to stop being so suspicious. The barrier was probably put to avoid spoiling the pastries surprise and Killian was helping Taako so-

Her Stone of Farspeech started pulsating with red light. “The office…” she whispered, blood draining from her face. She hurried to leave, calling some guards with her.

Taako saw Lucretia rush out and he immediately knew Julia and Johann were found out. His eyes darted to Magnus, but the man was too distracted to notice the Director’s movements. As he was about to follow Lucretia, Taako’s Stone of Farspeech lit up too.

“Taako?” Barry’s voice came from the stone.

“Yes, Barold? I’m in a bit of a hurry here, what’s up?”

“There’s been- uh,  _ a problem _ .” He announced, cautiously.

_ Well, fuck _ .

-

As the guards rushed in, slamming Julia to the ground and tying her hands together, she offered no resistance. Too many thoughts danced in her mind, as the little child Voidfish squeaked from its tank.

At first, nothing happened, unlike with the first inoculation no new memories rushed in, but instead, soon, fragments of staticked speech -  _ it had been erasing information from her mind before she could process it _ \- were put back together. Taako never spoke to Magnus about it, but he did try to explain their relationship to Julia during the years they travelled together, the three of them, and some words slipped, some words had been  _ blocked out _ .  _ The Institute _ , the  _ ship _ , the people he considered family.  _ Oh, gods, his twin sister _ . Julia hadn’t been able to hear it at the time but he was looking for  _ his sister _ .

The skeleton in the cave.

She remembered the short speech he made in front of the team in the Voidfish’s chamber: how the Red Robes hadn’t been the wicked team of rogue sorcerers the Director portrayed them as, but a team of scientists and explorers from another Planar System.

As she was dragged back into the Director’s private office, she glanced at the wall and saw that the painting she previously saw as a self-portrait of Lucretia was now a group portrait of the seven of them. And Magnus was there too, smiling, younger - a little more than a boy - with his family.  _ Merle and Barry were there too _ ! They’d been happy, they’d been  _ together _ .

Then,  _ why _ ?

Lucretia was standing in the main office, looking at Julia with shock and disappointment. Julia glared at the woman who tore the man she loved from his purpose, his life and family, and she understood Taako’s childish spite, his plan.  _ He just wanted his family back _ .

“Why _? _ ” Julia hissed through her teeth. “That painting, you-  _ why _ ?”

Lucretia gasped quietly, gripping tightly her staff. “You saw it?”

“Yeah,” she replied coldly, with spite. “ _ The Red Robes _ , what a cruel joke.”

“Who sent you?” Lucretia asked. When Julia showed no sign of replying, she shook her head sadly and walked towards her throne, motioning the guards to take her away. “Take her to the brig. Allow no visitors.”

Julia’s eyes widened as she fought for freedom. “They’re gonna find out! Lucretia!” she called as they dragged her out. “This is not right! You had no right!”

As the doors closed, Lucretia sat down on her throne and sobbed, her face in her hands. She couldn’t stop now. She was so close.

-

If one were to wander the Astral Plane, they would find an exact copy of the Prime Material Plane, with the same geography and landscapes, but with a different flora and a fauna of spirits and coagulations of feelings that would escape any living mind’s comprehension.

The Reaper named Kravitz closed his book of bounties and, looking at the shadow of a flying building above the Eternal Stockade - a projection from the Prime Material Plane, the base of a necromancer who’d been snatching souls from out of there from the past few months - he smiled.

The Raven Queen was angry, and so was he.

Time to work.


	20. greatness thrust upon them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 2 Scene 5_

The jarring dissonance between the festive atmosphere around him and the dreadful countdown Lucas and Barry’s situation created was making Taako feel sick to the point he had to excuse himself away from the party. 

He was trapped between two fires: he had to stop whatever was causing the crystallization of Lucas’ lab, but at the same time, he had no idea how to head over there without causing suspicion. He could take the Starblaster but 1) he had no idea how to fly the damn thing, 2) it would pretty much expose him, 3) he wouldn’t risk crystallizing and losing the ship that - no matter how much he hated to think about it - could be their only chance to save  _ anyone _ . 

Telling the Director would mean exposing the fact Barry had been at the lab, so that was a no-no. Fuck, playtime was pretty much over if she’d got Julia and Johann, though. 

“You there, Lucas?” He called again on the Stone of Farspeech. 

“Y-yes,” the scientist replied weakly. 

“Is there any way to protect an eventual rescue party from the crystallization?” 

“There is!” he exclaimed, “Leon should have some of my Null Suits, they- uh- block the effects of a certain school of magic.” 

“Good enough,” he shut off the conversation.

Lucas was a necromancer, that much had been clear from the enthusiastic conversation he had with Barry, but the phenomenon he described had the undeniable signature of  _ transmutation _ magic - what in the world had triggered it? 

There was a joyous uproar coming from the room as he walked back. Carey had solved Magnus’ puzzle box and received the prize: the SitBoy 41. Taako discreetly pulled Magnus’ sleeve and glanced at him to follow outside, gesturing at Merle to do the same. Killian and Carey were staring at them and for a moment their eyes met: the elf shrugged and made a gesture to say  _ later _ . 

“What’s wrong? Did you hear anything from Jules?” was Magnus’ first question as soon as they were away from the crowd. 

“No, but the Director’s alarm rang. I don’t want to assume the worst, but- hold on!” He had to stop Magnus from running at full speed towards the Director’s office. “I was talking here!” he exclaimed, offended. “She can handle herself. We have another situation to take care of asap, Barold might be in danger.” 

Magnus didn’t look convinced, but nodded and agreed to follow. 

“Uh, guys?” Carey approached them just as they were heading towards the Artificer’s office. “Sorry, the Director summoned us and requested you three come too, it seemed urgent.” 

_ Well, shit _ . 

\- 

“What’s up? You left when the good bits started!” Taako told the Director once they got inside, playing oblivious to the whole crisis that was apparently going on. 

“No, I-” she started. 

“Did you want to have a private party? Give us a raise?” Merle interrupted her. 

“No-” 

“You want to use that coupon for a free backrub?” Magnus butted in, playing along. “The offer is open whenever!” 

“ _ No _ , will you- will you just let me talk?” the woman stood up. 

Taako narrowed his eyes, Lucretia’s eyes were bloodshot: had she been crying? The change was subtle but something unsettling was going on. 

“Lucas, the scientific advisor who helped us build this base, went AWOL.” She announced. “He found a Grand Relic and has apparently been experimenting with it behind our backs,” she said, clearly expecting a stronger reaction than she got. 

“But he’s not a reclaimer,” Magnus said simply, looking at his companions. Behind a tight lipped smile,Taako was genuinely surprised for a moment and then just  _ irritated  _ by the reveal. 

“No, he’s a consultant for us,” Lucretia kept explaining, “we did have him inoculated with the Voidfish’s ichor so he’s able to know about them, but he absolutely is not authorized to find them and hunt them down and especially not to use them, but he’s been experimenting with it and it- it’s a bad one to be tinkering around with boys, it’s- it’s the Philosopher’s Stone.” 

_ The fucking what Stone now _ ? Lucretia’s renaming of the relics was just ludicrously fancy, but this topped everything else. Taako snorted loudly, before realizing he just got the whole room’s attention. “Sorry, sorry, go on?” 

Lucretia looked at them sadly and sighed. “Taako, how long?” 

“Sorry?” 

“How long?” She insisted. 

“10 inches.”

Magnus snorted, while Merle just cackled loudly. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Taako continued, laughing as well now, but avoiding to look at Lucretia directly.

“How long have you and Barry been working with Lucas?”

Taako’s shoulder tensed, as he shifted into a defensive position. “Oh?”

“I can intercept your communications through the Stones of Farspeech. It’s a  _ security measure _ against cases like this. I opened the network a few minutes ago because of a security breach,” she explained, matter-of-fact.

Taako scoffed, but relaxed from the built tension. “So you’re basically spying on us.”  _ It was still good, it was still safe _ , none of them mentioned the plan or Barry’s true objective during the brief call.

Lucretia stood up in a motion of anger. “You’re my employee, you work for  _ me _ . Whatever little project you’ve been working on my back has put  _ the whole world _ in danger, so maybe you should have consulted me before acting behind my back.”

Taako gritted his teeth. “Well,  _ maybe  _ we wouldn’t have acted behind your back if we could’ve  _ trusted _ you a little more!” he snapped.

“Holy shit,” Carey commented, taken aback by the sudden change.

Her voice was what reminded Taako  _ where  _ and  _ when  _ he was. Killian looked wary but not surprised, Magnus’ eyebrows shot up and he gritted his teeth, while Merle looked away awkwardly.

Lucretia was just staring.

_ Shit _ ,  _ fix it _ ,  _ fix it _ ,  _ no shut up you’ll make it worse _ . Taako reeled back, eyes darting around the room in panic.

“I see,” Lucretia just said, in the end, sadness passing like a shadow on her features. “Head to the artificery, I’ve instructed Leon to give you the appropriate equipment for the mission. Boyland is already headed there.”

_ That was it _ ? He relaxed, surprised. She didn’t suspect him at all? What about Julia and Johann then, did they bail when Lucretia’s alarm went off?

There were too many questions, but about one thing Lucretia was  _ right _ .

There was no time to lose.

\- 

Despite the delay and the fact that Lucretia was now intercepting their Stones of Farspeech, Taako was pretty glad he didn’t have to use the Starblaster to get on Lucas’ base. The transmuted pink tourmaline was everywhere, filled to the brim with arcane energy spreading at every touch. Thankfully, the Null Suits did their job pretty well, he hoped wherever Barry and Lucas were they managed to shield themselves.

The fact that the suits - and how Leon had looked at them when they all requested shades of red was fucking amazing - blocked transmutation magic, though, put Taako in an annoying position. He had a fair share of knowledge of spells from other schools but he was  _ itching  _ to try the spell of the Phandolinian Wizard he read the journal of a few months prior and it was pretty impossible without risking turning into pink tourmaline.

The plan was simple and linear: pick up Barry and Lucas, pick up the  _ Philosopher's Stone _ and bada-bim bada-boom they’re back for the rest of the party.

Taako didn’t consider the giant golems, the spooky crinkle tinkles, killing robots and slave bugbears. But most of all, he didn’t consider Lucas could be  _ that big  _ of an asshole when he - after helping Merle getting a cool prosthetic of all things - bailed on them, casting a paralyzing curse on them from the Null Suits. 

“ _ I fucking hate this, ok _ ?” Taako screamed when yet another pink tourmaline golem appeared, flipping through the pages of what looked like a book  _ made of light _ .

Barry kept staring at the book and Taako heard him murmur under his breath “ _ Oh, shit _ .” 

The golem turned around, as it confirmed its disinterest in Carey and Killian, speaking in a weird and distinctly  _ forced _ accent. 

“ _ I know what that is _ ,” Barry groaned, trying to drag himself away even if only one arm was still functional. 

“Well, enlighten us then, Barold!” Taako twitching to try to take a better look at him, fighting the numbness pervading his body. 

“That’s a Book of Souls- it’s- what the...” Barry mumbled, as the golem cocked its head to the side, interested in what he was about to say. “ _ The retinue of the Raven Queen _ .”

“ _ Ohh _ ,” a chuckle came from the tall crystal figure. “Someone ’as done their ’omework!” He exclaimed, shutting close the book, that disappeared. “We can skip da formalities then.” 

\- 

“What the fuck is wrong with the four of you?!” 

\- 

As they approached the main elevator Lucas used to escape, Killian noticed a crack in her helmet, which would have forced her to stay behind, raging about the unlucky string of events, if not for- 

“Hey, Taako, you got some duct tape?” Merle asked absentmindedly. 

“What’s that?” Carey and Killian asked in chorus, confused. Taako blinked and stared, before bursting out laughing - Faerun didn’t have plastic but Lucretia didn’t think of erasing the concept when she did her redaction,  _ it was ridiculous _ . 

“Sticky paper made from Very Dead Thing juice baked at volcano temperatures,” he explained, as he conjured a roll at the best of his abilities, “nice suggestion, Merle.” 

“You’re welcome,” he replied, a bit confused. 

Killian took it less wary and more curious now that they’d fought together. “Thank you, I would have seriously killed someone if I’d had to stay here instead of punching that asshole!” 

“I mean, I would have punched him twice for you!” Carey nodded, “But that’s fair too, how’s that holding?” she wondered, passing a hand over the repaired helmet. 

“Well, it seems,” Killian looked at Taako. “How long will the conjuring hold?” 

“Until I’m knocked unconscious so watch Cha’Boy’s hide!” Taako gingerly pointed at himself. 

“Noted!” Carey chuckled, dragging Killian by hand into the elevator. 

“They seem like very good friends,” Barry smiled, looking at them as they walked away.

Taako frowned, then turned his head  _ very slowly _ in his direction, squinting, as Barry kept looking at the back of Carey’s head. When he spoke, Taako’s voice was heavy with disbelief and disappointment.

“Barold, they’re lesbians.”


	21. thy word with the devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The devil shall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs. He will give the devil his due._   
>  _Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Act 1 Scene 2_

“Zo, you're zee one who's taken my blace!” the robot jovially announced as he stared Barry down. He sounded a bit like Taako if not for the weird inflection.

Barry wasn’t a fighter. Or rather, Taako kept saying he was able to hold his own and also he was apparently a very powerful undead being? But in that moment, cornered by the creepy robot, with a broken wand and a crack in his suit’s helmet, he didn’t really feel that powerful at all.

“Uh-” Barry was only able to reply, as he fumbled to find a way out of the situation. 

“Brian!” Carey called, jumping over the biggest robot and towards them. “Please, you don’t have to do this!” 

The robot - Brian? - turned around. “Carey, darling! How’re you doing? Vas mein rite of rememprance delightful?” he pleasantly greeted her. 

Carey winced, regret and sorrow flashing on her face, and stopped before reaching them. “Brian,” she called him again, “Listen-”

“Has Liza mized me? Oh, zilly me! Off courze sche hasn’t,” he cackled like he just said the funniest joke, “you fucking enchoyed erazing me from her mind, didn’t you?”

“Liza?! You’re Liza’s-”

As he turned towards Barry, Killian exploited the moment of distraction to jump from the opposite direction, over Barry’s prone form, and slammed down, piercing through his arcane core with a shortsword. Brian screamed as the core shattered and a blue wisp of fiery light flew chaotically around them, as the robot fell down. “She’s better off without you, asshole!” 

“Did you know him?” Barry wondered as Killian helped him back on his feet. 

“He was one of the best Seekers at the BoB,” she nodded. “ He went rogue, killed a bunch of people-” she trailed off, then shook her head. “Get someone to fix your wand or get a replacement, the fight’s far from over.”

The wisp flew into the core of one of the two robots still standing, and Carey and Killian rushed towards the action. Something about what Brian said was setting off alarms in the back of Barry’s mind, but he dismissed it and, picking up the two pieces of his wand, went back into the fight.

\- 

Julia didn’t even react when Lucretia approached her cell door. Rather than a cell, it looked like a small comfortable apartment, but the door was still barred and shut closed, and there weren’t even windows. 

_ What was taking Magnus so long _ ? Was the party still going on? Did he notice she was being late? 

“Julia?” Lucretia called, “I- I need to talk to you.” 

Julia didn’t reply, she simply stayed still on the bed, not even when she heard the lock open and the woman walk into the cell. 

“Not one step closer,” Julia glared at her when she approached the bed. Lucretia nodded and sit down on a chair at a nearby table, only then Julia stood up. The guards had already locked the door, and Julia was unarmed against a magic user, she knew very well the other woman was still in a position of advantage. “What do you want?” 

Lucretia cast a spell. Julia barely saw the light on her staff before her perspective _ changed. _

With a gentle smile, Julia sat down in front of her  _ dearest friend. _ “I’m afraid I have nothing to offer you,” she said with genuine regret. “What do you need?” 

Lucretia’s hand was trembling as she took a piece of parchment, a quill and an inkwell from her pouch and laid them on the table. “Julia, tell me about yourself.” 

\- 

Magnus dropped Lucas on the ground after a very impressive speech on the value of being a scientist and respecting death, as the rest of the team just looked at him in awe. Killian and Carey were in the back of the room, as the latter was severely injured after the last fight. 

“Your mother is gone, help us fix this.” Magnus concluded, helping the man up on his feet. 

“Ok, listen.” Taako stepped forward. “Let’s start from page one, ok? Who the fuck is in the stalactite?” 

“You guys really aren't that sharp, are you? Still ’avin’ some trouble figurin’ this— still crackin’ this nut, huh?” A familiar voice came from the sapphire mirror, as the surface shifted and blurred until it focused on the image of a young and dashingly beautiful elven man, clad in an ebony black feathered cape. Both his sleek black hair and skin had a bluish hue that could or could not have been due to the color of the mirror he was using to appear to them. His cloak looked like it was made of black feathers, and he was holding, suspended in the air slightly above his open palm, a book made of light, that left no doubts about his identity.

“Hello, mister made of salt, sir! I have to say it’s very nice to finally see your face,” Taako walked towards the mirror. “Very nice face,” he added, with a coy smile.

Barry rolled his eyes. “There’s a time and a place…”

The elf in the mirror shifted uncomfortably. 

“Please enlighten us, and maybe we can get a mutual- an agreement?” Taako proposed. 

The other elf sighed. “Lemme lay it out for you,” he explained calmly. “That  _ nerd _ -” he pointed at Lucas, who was cowering and shaking in fear on the ground, “is a necromancer.” 

“Yeah, no surprise there. You’d be shocked to know  _ how many nerds _ are interested in that soul crap.” Taako shrugged with a laugh and glanced at Barry, who averted his eyes and stepped sideways. 

“...and necromancy is real bad stuff,” he continued, unperturbed. “We’re not fans of that here.” 

“And where is...here?” Magnus wondered out loud. 

“Guys! It’s the Phantom Zone!” Merle exclaimed, as though he just had a revelation. 

The elf in the mirror cleared his throat. “Close, but not-” 

“Are you Death?” Magnus interrupted him, staring in awe. 

“I- You’re- you’re not too far off. I’m a bounty ’unter for the Raven Queen, the goddess of the natural order of life an’ death,” he proclaimed with pride. “I suppose you could say that, representin’ her, I am Death incarnate, sure. Some people call me that.” 

“Some people call you a space cowboy!” Magnus offered, with a grin. 

He stared down at them in a mix of curiosity and surprise. “Boy, you’re not intimidated by me at all, are you?” He smiled. 

“Nope.” Magnus, Taako and Merle proclaimed in unison. “Just a bit,” Barry glared at them. 

“Okay,” the bounty hunter laughed a little, intrigued. “Some people call me Death, sure, some people call me- oh, in some societies I’m called the Grim Reaper. I like that one.” He grinned excitedly, clapping his hands. Taako was smiling and staring.  _ Shit, _ he was a nerd.  _ A hot nerd _ .

“Anyway, I’m Kravitz. Charmed. I’ve come here because someone ” he glared at Lucas, who winced in fear, “has been stealin’ souls from the Eternal Stockade. Lemme tell you, this laboratory is a veritable  _ piñata  _ of punishment-” 

“Abobinabule-” Merle started.

“A real abomination. It sounds like we're on the same side, here, Kravitz.” Magnus nodded, opening his arms in earnesty. 

The Reaper grinned threateningly. “ _ Oh _ ~” he dragged out the sound, slowly connecting the tips of his fingers together and leaning forward. “Let's not get ahead of ourselves.” With a flick of the wrist, he made the spectral book appear once more and started reciting Lucas’ crimes. “I was assigned your family's bounty, Lucas, but when I got here and I met _ you four _ ,” his grin got larger, “that's when I found an even bigger trophy.” 

“Now, hold on!” Magnus sounded offended. “What did Magnus do?!” 

“Gee, thanks for the solidarity, man!” Merle grumbled. 

Kravitz started flipping through the pages of his book. “Let’s see, let’s see...Taako.” 

“Hello.” Taako stepped forward, smiling suggestively. The reaper didn’t look up. 

“Taako…” Kravitz repeated, finger sliding down the page. 

“Hell-o~” Taako repeated and this time Kravitz briefly looked up and he blushed briefly before regaining his composure. 

“You’ve died eight times.” 

Taako ruefully sighed, leaned back and started mumbling and counting, rising one finger at a time. “...the vines on cycle 4, the pit on 10…” 

“Static…” Merle commented offhandedly, like they’d gotten used to in the past few weeks, Taako just dismissively waved his free hand and kept mumbling. 

“...the hamsters, the judges,  _ oh boy _ that was a bad one. Yeah, that tracks.” He nodded, going back to face Kravitz before he suddenly froze, hit by a moment of realization. He stood straight and with a large grin, he raised both hands and crowed “I told you that thing with the peanut brittle didn't count as a death! I was totally alive at the end of Cycle 37! Suck it, Lup!” 

“Cycle? What are you talking about?” Kravitz backed away, confused and a little shocked. “How could you have possibly died so many times without appearing in the Astral Plane? All of you! Magnus!” he called, flipping several pages of the book at once. “You’ve died nineteen times!” 

Magnus frowned, shrugged and turned towards Taako. “Does that sound right?”

“Dunno, man,” he snorted. “It’s not like  _ I  _ recorded them.” 

“Barry J. Bluejeans-” Kravitz called and suddenly everyone’s eyes landed on Barry, who yelped and straightened his back. 

“Actually, my name is-” Barry tried to interrupt. 

Kravitz sneered, “Registry offices don’t work here. What you  _ consider  _ your name  _ is  _ your name,” he giggled, “ _ Bluejeans _ .” 

Taako smiled but was a little tense himself, did this Reaper know what Barry was? He had half an idea how to get out of the problem with the multiple deaths, but the lich thing was  _ pretty  _ illegal from every point of view. 

“You’ve died twenty five times,” Kravitz announced, and that was it. 

Taako allowed himself to relax. “Seriously, that many? Damn, Barold.” 

“And Merle…” Kravitz shifted towards the dwarf, narrowing his eyes and with a tight lipped smile. “Merrrrrllllllle fuckin' Highchurch. You, my dear friend, care to take a guess? Care to  _ wager  _ a guess?” He gestured wildly, now looking positively pissed. 

“Closest without going over. Taako, go!” Magnus announced. 

Taako grinned. “ At least forty, considering the shit with John.” 

“Who’s John?” Merle frowned. 

“I’m gonna go with a hundred!” Magnus laughed. 

“Somewhere in between there. Merle Highchurch, the richest bounty I've ever hunted. You, my dear man, have died _ fifty seven _ times.” Kravitz enunciated calmly. 

Taako started wheezing. 

“Fifty seven!  _ Fifty se-veh-eh-en times _ !” Kravitz repeated, now visibly angry. Smoke started rising from his skin, as his flesh evaporated, leaving behind a threatening red-eyed skull. It didn’t help that he still spoke with a bad forced accent. “And you've never come to visit! You've never come to visit me, Merle!” 

“I never call,” Merle nodded, calmly. 

“After 57 deaths! That's just rude!” 

Magnus frowned. “When you say ‘died’-” he started, but was interrupted by Taako, that was still laughing and drying the tears that formed around his eyes. 

“Hold on, let me handle this. Hey, handsome~” he stepped forward, one hand on the edge of the mirror and one on his hip. “I liked you better before but I’m digging the spooky aesthetic.” He paused for a moment, frowning. “Uh. I guess it runs in the family. Anyway!” he went back to smiling. “What’s your jurisdiction, bubeleh?” 

“My...jurisdiction?” The skull had no visible expression but Taako could swear he was giving him a quizzical look. 

“Yeh, your jurisdiction. Which  _ planes _ ?” 

“I- Every plane of the living! The Prime Material plane, the Plane of Thought, the Celestial plane too in a sense! All of them,” he exclaimed aggressively. “You’re not out of my jurisdiction!” 

Taako grinned. “Oh, but we are . We’re from another Planar System, baby! Ba-tum-tchh!” he crowed, winking at him. 

“Static.” Magnus and Merle said in chorus. 

“Oh, right, shit.” Taako’s shoulders slumped down. He huffed, turning the Umbrastaff in his hand.  _ He thought this was gonna be simple _ , but the static complicated everything. “Let’s see...we  _ died _ a little bit and we did check in the Astral Plane,  _ but not that one _ if that makes any sense…?” He tried, pointing at the space behind Kravitz.  _ Was that a giant hand _ in the distance?

“What do you mean  _ another planar system _ ?” Kravitz repeated in panic.

Taako stared, surprise slowly shifting into an enthusiastic smile. “ _You heard that_.” He felt like jumping out of his own skin. “Well, well, well, well, well~” he giggled, turning around excitedly. _Of course_! Barry had heard the song Lucretia was humming! _The undead were immune to the Voidfish_! “Let’s make a _deal_.”


	22. the guilty mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind;_   
>  _The thief doth fear each bush an officer._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Act 5 Scene 6_

Lucretia was visibly shaking as she held the parchment slightly above the water. The baby Voidfish’s tentacles were prodding at it curiously, but she couldn’t let it go.

She remembered Barry, when he entered her office. Barry without Lup was a shadow of the curious, bright and clever man she’d travelled with for decades. Lucretia couldn’t do that to Magnus, she just couldn’t take that love, that relationship away from him - and for what? Avoiding confrontation? 

Slowly, she backed away from the tank, still holding the parchment tightly, and with a sigh she turned around and headed back to her office. Behind her, the tank briefly lit up a few times.

\- 

“Get the hell away from my son!” the robot - Maureen? - shouted, pointing at the legion of ghosts that escaped from the sapphire mirror.

“Nice!” Taako gave her a thumbs up. The robot turned towards him, holding the Stone tightly to her chest: the Grand Relic looked like a simple pebble, but glowed with golden filaments of energy as she attempted to revert the crystallization. 

“Who are-?” she started, as Taako walked towards her, one arm extended. 

“Miss Maureen, the Stone please.” The wizard smiled, extending a hand. She backed away. 

“Hey, Taako?” Magnus called, busy fighting a couple of robots. “Are you sure? The last time-” 

“This isn’t last time.” He said confidently, without turning around to face him.  _ He could do this _ : Lucretia was using her own Relic, he could use  _ his _ . “I can use it to fix this mess, revert the crystallization if you let me.”

“Why- How-” she shook her head. “How can I trust you?” Your friend hurt my son!”

“Honestly, your son was an asshole,” he sighed, without stopping walking towards Maureen. “But I can at least say we’re trying not to get him killed like those ghost guys are.”

“Taako,  _ don’t fucking take the Stone _ !” Magnus called again, with urgency, and he would have rushed towards him if the robots weren’t in his way. “Merle, for fuck’s sake, stop him! He’s doing it  _ again _ !”

Maureen looked at Magnus, then at Taako again. “Why do you want this? How can you be sure that using it won’t destroy you? I know about the Grand Relics, I know what the can do, this-”

“Is  _ my  _ creation,” he told her, eyes fixed on the glinting filaments of gold around her hand. “ _ I made _ the goddamn Philosopher’s Stone, so yeah,” he grinned, “I know how to  _ fucking  _ use it.”

“ _ Yours _ ? You are-” Maureen stepped back, but with a sudden unexpected movement, Taako lunged forward and grabbed Maureen’s hand in his own. A bright golden light shone through their closed fingers and enveloped them.

\- 

As several members of the Bureau were looking at the floating lab from the main deck of the base - Avi had planted several Don’t Lean Over signs on the edge - a collective gasp spread through the audience as the pink tourmaline was enveloped in filaments of golden light and started reverting to metal and glass under their eyes. 

\- 

It was, for a lack of a better word,  _ heartwarming _ , like finding a missing piece of himself. The magic imbued in the Stone -  _ his _ magic, his own power - intensified by the Light of Creation,  _ sang  _ like a soprano in the crystal hallways of his arcane essence, making every single inch of it resonate with it, channeling and amplifying the noise. Was this what Lucretia felt, wielding the Bulwark Staff? It was inebriating, exciting, intoxicating. Casting the incredibly complex spell he read about -  _ transmuted matter remembers what it used to be, it’s simple to bring it back to its former nature once the process is triggered _ \- was surprisingly easy: he felt the tendrils of power spread to the entire laboratory, down hallways and into rooms, every single circuit resuming its functions, every single blade of grass returning to its original state. The floating building jolted as it stopped its fall, but when Taako opened his eyes he couldn’t see anything but bright gold and couldn’t hear anything but a constant hum permeating his senses.

_ And then something cracked _ . The resonance stopped, the crystalline structure of his magic  _ shattered  _ under the pressure of the immense power he was conducting and he gasped, out of breath, letting go of Maureen’s hands as she also fell to her knees in shock.

“You did it,” Maureen whispered, trembling. She opened her fingers and the Stone tumbled to the ground, the golden light still shining bright around it. 

The umbrastaff, too, was shaken loose from where it hung on Taako’s arm, rolling across the ground as he fell prone. His ears were ringing like he’d just witnessed an explosion, and distantly, he heard Merle shout “Holy shit!” 

Magnus, finally free from the fight, quickly ran to them, picked up the Relic from the ground and folded the glove of the Null Suit around it, looking down at Taako with worry and incredulity. “ _ What the fuck _ , man?”

“Did it work?” Taako grinned weakly.

“I-I’m getting readings from all around the lab.” Maureen explained, in shock, “most of the rooms are back- How did you do that?” 

“I know how to use that bad bitch…” he pointed vaguely at the Stone Magnus was holding. “And if you could give that back-” 

“Oh,  _ hell, no _ !” Magnus stepped back, tapped the glove with the Glutton’s Fork and, lifting his helmet for a second, put it in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Everybody just stared. 

“ _ What the fuck _ .” Taako just said, making an effort to sit up. 

“Do you see yourself? You fucking almost lost control over there! This is the second Relic you fell victim to the thrall of!” Magnus exploded. 

Taako shrugged. “I wasn’t thralled,” he argued. “I knew what I was doing!” Grabbing the umbrella and using it as a support, he slowly hoisted himself up.

Another crazed robot ran towards them screaming and Taako pointed the Umbrastaff, casting a Fireball  _ that turned 180° and blasted him straight in the chest _ .

“ _ What the fuck _ !” Magnus screamed, before slamming Railsplitter in the robot’s fuse and destroying it.

Taako coughed and stumbled, falling backwards to the ground, the front of his suit charred and burned. It was still unbroken, but the Fireball seemed to have hurt him pretty bad. “I second that!” he groaned in pain, glaring at the umbrastaff. He extended his arm again, try to summon Garyl to aid them in battle, but the spectral horse’s figure only flickered into existence for a moment before disappearing. Taako suddenly felt overwhelmed with a sudden nausea, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes.  “ _ Aw, shit _ -” was all he managed to say before he collapsed the rest of the way to the floor, and lost consciousness altogether. 

\- 

Taako came back to his senses in his room on the Bureau of Balance. He wasn’t in the Null Suit anymore, but only in the black unitard he had been wearing underneath. Both his hat and the Umbrastaff were neatly put on the bedside. A loud snore warned him that he wasn’t alone, and he turned his head to see Magnus, Barry and Merle asleep on the sofa, stacked up on each other like they fell victims of a Sleeping Curse. 

“Hey!” He called, more fondly that annoyed. “What is this dickfest in Cha’Boy’s room? Get the fuck out!” 

Barry was the first to wake up, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and proceeded to shake the other two awake. 

“What happened? Lucas…” 

“Lucas is gone, far away from here as we speak.” Magnus deadpanned once he woke up. “Merle banished the ghost legion.”

“We already  _ extracted  _ the Stone from Magnus’ digestive system too,” Barry sighed. 

Taako fell backwards, sighing with relief. “Good enough, I suppose.” 

“Good enough?  _ Good enough _ ?” Magnus roared, taking him by surprise. “We came back, celebration and all and  _ Julia wasn’t there _ .” 

Taako gripped the covers, a feeling of dread keeping him still in place. 

“The Director told us she’s in the brig and I can’t even visit her!” Magnus continued. “This is your goddamn fault!” 

“Mine?!” Taako burst out, sitting up straight. “What the hell?!” 

“She put her in prison because she found her snooping in her private office!  _ Where you told her to go _ ! You said there was no danger!” 

Merle tried to push Magnus back. “Please, it doesn’t need to get to this.” 

“It’s not my fault the Director will go to extremes to keep her true intentions hidden!” Taako cried, gritting his teeth. He wanted to tell them more, he wanted to tell them  _ everything _ .  

“It’s everyone’s fault,” Merle supplied. “The plan was reckless, but Julia knew what she was doing.” 

“Tomorrow,” Magnus evaded Merle and approached the bed, pointing a finger in Taako’s chest. “Tomorrow you’re gonna help me break her out.” 

“Yeah,” Taako murmured. “Ok. I was done playing anyway.” 

Magnus scoffed. “You’d better be,” he walked out of the room. “This was never a game to begin with.” 

“Try to write stuff down, maybe it’ll help you figure out what went wrong.” Merle suggested, handing him a notebook and a piece of charcoal, then followed Magnus outside. Barry looked like he wanted to say something but Taako glared at him, “Get out,” he said coldly. Barry obliged. 

\- 

The parchment paper drifted softly into the tank and Lucretia sobbed. She had hoped she could convince the group to stay away from Julia, at least until the last two relics were retrieved, but Magnus’ outburst in her office proved that keeping them separated was never gonna work. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry…” she cried, as the paper was consumed.

\- 

When Taako woke up again in the morning, alone, surrounded by crumpled and burned pieces of paper, he immediately felt regret clawing at his insides, which was absolutely preposterous because Taako didn’t regret .

Still, when he woke up, the first thing he did was head to the kitchen in the shared space between their rooms and prepare to make blueberry pancakes - Magnus’ favourites.

As he realized as soon as he tried to cast anything stronger than a cantrip, the night before,  _ there was something wrong with his magic _ . Casting spells felt like trying to steer a cart with a broken wheel, the effects varied but he could never get what he was trying to. After getting a couple of injuries, he gave up and started cooking with only the aid of cantrips, like he used to on his show. 

Two things he admitted to himself regretting: he missed the conclusion of the fight and he severely underestimated the backlash that using the Light of Creation would have on his magic. He had to ask Barry’s help on the matter, later. 

A door opened, but Taako didn’t turn around. Magnus walked around the room and sat at a table in the middle of the room, sniffing the air, like a goddamn puppy. Taako couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the comparison. 

“Is that blueberry?” Magnus wondered. 

“Yep, figured I had to apologize somehow.” He said before he could stop himself. “You’re right: it was reckless. I was too concentrated on the result and didn’t think of the consequences of my actions.” 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Magnus nodded, but he didn’t look angry anymore. 

“I put Julia in danger only thinking of her as an asset, and it backfired. I should have taken the matter into my own hands, you have every right to be angry with me.” The words kept flowing out on their own and Taako almost didn’t notice he was burning the batter. 

Magnus stood up and slowly walked up to him. “Look, ok. I’m sorry too. I was tired and mad and honestly I can’t remember half of the things I was angry for. Anyway, I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that.” 

Taako chuckled. 

“You’re like a brother to me and that’s not gonna change.” Magnus continued. “There’s just one thing I have to ask.” 

The batter sizzled, tiny bubbles popping, The pan was rough with burned batter fragment when Taako finally flipped the pancake. 

“Who’s Julia?"


	23. this be madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Act 2 Scene 2_

“Who’s Julia?” Magnus laughed, confused. After seeing Taako’s face though, he took an involuntary step back. Magnus knew about Taako’s love of drama and his mood swings. He’d seen how petty he could get when pissed, and how threatening when serious. In that moment, in that very instant, Magnus knew with sharp clarity that he had never, ever seen Taako  _ angry _ .

The burning smell permeated slowly the room as a creeping sensation of dread froze Magnus place: in a moment the atmosphere had changed and he could only step back as Taako’s hands started shaking, an unsettling  _ fury _ burning in his eyes when he looked up.

“ _ I’m gonna fucking kill her _ ,” Taako hissed, as he let go of the kitchen utensils. Sparks danced on his fingertips and for a moment he seemed surprised, before his face contorted in pain.

Magnus rushed forward to support him as he stumbled, but when Taako leaned on the kitchen counter, everywhere his hands touched  wood, it started to blacken and smoke until the whole thing exploded in a blast of shrapnel. Magnus managed to protect his face in time, but the shards left him with a number of painful cuts.

Taako looked shocked, but unharmed, as rage and confusion kept chasing each other on his face. He stumbled back, an unnatural wind picking up, twisting around his body, cracking with filaments of blue and white lightning. Magnus was no spellcaster but he knew unrestrained magic when he saw it. “ _ Barry _ ?!” he called, with a higher pitch and more urgency than he meant. “ _ Barry _ !”

The storm intensified, pushing Magnus backwards, against the wall of the apartment’s shared space. Merle’s and Barry’s room doors opened almost simultaneously as items flew, changed, disappeared all around the room, in a flow of light and magical energy that made their hair stand on end. 

“Holy shit!” Barry exhaled, eyes fixed on Taako at the center of the storm. “Is he-  _ shit! _ ” 

Looking around in panic, Barry grabbed and pushed Merle behind his back. The Umbrastaff, that had been leaning against the wall, started acting weirdly: opening and closing seemingly on its own, maybe resonating with whatever Taako was doing? Barry extended an arm and grabbed the umbrella, it was warm to the touch.

Taako’s head jerked in his direction. Lightning struck the wall beside Barry, leaving a scorch mark, but Barry took a deep breath and forced himself to step forward. “Taako! Stop! You’re gonna hurt yourself!” He called, extending a hand.

Taako looked up at him and  _ grinned _ , even though weirdly enough there were tears streaming down his face. “I’m gonna fucking kill her,” he repeated, with a bitter laugh. He walked towards Barry, attempting to pull the Umbrastaff from his grip, but just as he touched the handle, red lighting shot out of it, repelling his hand.

“I see,” Taako murmured, with disappointment. “It doesn’t matter.” Shrugging, he turned his back to Barry and Magnus and strided out of the apartment’s door, the uncontrolled storm following him.

After a few seconds of shocked silence, Barry straightened his back and gripped the Umbrastaff with a determination he didn’t know he had. “Merle, heal Magnus and follow me.” He ran out after Taako.

“Where is he going?” Merle’s voice was shaking.

“I think he’s gonna kill someone,” Magnus grunted in pain, as he attempted to stand up. “We have to stop him.” 

\- 

Like some sort of warning, Lucretia could feel her stomach sink just  _ before  _ the noises outside warned her that something was wrong, she gripped tightly her staff - which had just finished absorbing the Light from the Philosopher’s Stone - and rose to her feet, motioning Davenport to hide behind her. 

The huge doors to her main office slammed open and a strong wind pushed her back down on the chair. Lucretia tapped her staff and summoned a spherical shield all around herself, trying to discern the source of the aggression from the twister of smoke and magic sparks. Her heart missed a beat when she recognized him. 

“Taako? What?” she called weakly. 

The wizard didn’t speak, an expression Lucretia had  _ never _ seen was painted on his face and it made her blood freeze. Lucretia instinctively channeled her shield stronger and the barrier became opaque just an instant before she realized he’d just spoken a Word of Power.

Agonizing pain seared from her chest, her blood turning into flowing lava in her veins. Every single fiber of her being assaulted by waves of crippling pain, making her let go of the Bulwark Staff and fall to her knees, then prone, screaming.

From the floor, she weakly looked up and saw Taako staring down at her, curled lip and squinting eyes, he stood still for a time that felt like hours before the Power Word Pain lost intensity and Lucretia welcomed the relief for a mere instant, before the elf grabbed the front of her robe and lifted her up, slamming her back against the wall with a strength Lucretia didn’t know he could have. The storm was still raging around them, lighting burning her skin mercilessly when it brushed her. 

_ Footsteps _ , someone was running towards them. Lucretia’s vision was blurry but she still saw that the first figure to rush in was that of Magnus. 

“ _ What the hell, Taako _ ?!” he cried in disbelief at the scene in front of his eyes. 

Merle was next and he immediately called upon his god to raise an Antimagic Field. The storm abruptly stopped, the sparks died, but Taako didn’t budge an inch, holding Lucretia in place. 

“Thank you Merle,” he simply said, more calmly than anyone expected. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to stop that myself.” 

“Buddy, let her go…” the cleric said slowly and surprisingly Taako obeyed, releasing his grip and letting the woman fall on the ground. Lucretia tried to stand up but her legs gave out, leaving her kneeling on the floor, panting in shock. 

Davenport hurried towards her to support her and Taako just smirked. “You’re not gonna be so eager to help once you figure what’s going on, Cap.” 

“Davenport?” the gnome squeaked, looking at Taako absolutely terrified. 

Lucretia looked up in disbelief. “Taako, you- How? Since when- ”

Taako laughed, but there was no joy in his voice as he bent down over her. “Since the  _ fucking  _ beginning, Luce,” he grabbed her hair and pulled her head up so she could look at him in the eyes. “I’ve played along because I was still trying to figure out what to do next, but that last stunt of yours was just... _ low _ ,” he hissed 

“It was necessary,” she enunciated, gritting her teeth in pain. 

Taako’s smile fell, he let her hair go and stepped back for a moment, before snapping and kicking her straight in the face. 

Merle and Magnus winced. 

“ _ Necessary _ .” Taako repeated, gritting his teeth. “ _ Necessary _ ! Are you  _ fucking insane _ !” He screamed, his whole body heaving with deep breaths. “Are you just gonna erase anything that goes against  _ your fucking plan? _ Are you a goddamn psycho-”

“Ok, that’s fucking enough.” Barry hurriedly ordered, appearing in the room from behind Magnus. Merle nodded, and he raised his bible once more, casting a veil of Calm Emotions over the room. Deprived of the built up tension, the elf slumped and would have fallen down if Magnus wasn’t quick to grab his shoulders.

“Give them back,” Lucretia heard Taako murmur, his body shaken by sobs in Magnus’ arms. “Give them back to me.” 

\- 

It was like a storm had passed through the Bureau: trees ripped from the ground, burning in some points and frozen in others. Killian and Carey knew exactly where the line of destruction was heading and they ran towards the Director’s office, jumping over unconscious guards, rubble and debris, until they finally spotted the destroyed door and the group of Reclaimers inside. 

They initially didn’t see the first person they expected to, as Taako was huddled up against Magnus’ huge frame, the Director was bloody and beaten up. 

“Madam Director!” Killian called when she realized the woman was in a pretty bad shape herself, sitting against the wall in a corner of the room.  “Are you all right?” 

“I-” the woman tried to answer, then looked in front of her, where Taako was starting to look positively sick, his eyes clouded and breath irregular as he shivered violently while Magnus held him, confused. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Carey exclaimed, worried. Barry and Merle hurried up by his side.

Barry kneeled over Taako, hands fluttering around his without touching, like he didn’t know what to do with them. “This looks like- shit,  _ oh, shit _ -” he nervously passed a hand through his hair, “it’s a  _ wild magic _ \- It shouldn’t be- He’s not a sorcerer-” he panted in panic, then took a deep breath and extended an open palm over Taako’s forehead, casting Sleep. Offering no resistance, the elf finally relaxed and fell unconscious in Magnus’ arms.

“He needs help, fast.” Barry asserted, looking at Lucretia. “Whatever prompted this has to wait, we gotta fix him  _ now _ .” 

“I know.” Lucretia stood up with Killian’s help. 

“Hey, I’m a healer!” Merle stepped forward. 

Barry shook his head. “Have you ever dealt with a Wild Magic Surge?” 

Merle stopped. “Uh- no…” 

Barry sighed in distress. “Ok, we need somewhere to lay him down. I only read about this but I can probably guide you through it.” He explained. As he did, he felt the Umbrastaff pull at his arm, as if to drag him towards Taako. Barry stared at it, but after a moment of hesitation gave it back to its owner: despite being unconscious, Taako’s fingers instinctively closed around the fabric. 

“Can’t  _ you  _ heal him?” Lucretia asked, with a surprising concern for someone who just tried to kill or  _ torture _ her. 

“I’m a-” he glanced at Lucretia and stopped. “Well, I suppose you know that. It’s better I don’t try healing magic, it turns into  _ bad stuff _ when I do.” 

“I- you-” Lucretia stuttered, looking at Barry with worry and  _ expectation _ . “Do you remember?”  

Barry frowned. “I know I forgot, and I know  _ what  _ I forgot, more or less.” Barry nodded, looking at her coldly. “Not as clearly as Taako, but I remember enough to understand now what  _ you took _ from us. So,” he stood up, “you'd better help, explain, or  _ I swear to every single god I will finish what he started _ .” 

Lucretia didn’t reply, she just nodded slowly. She looked around and stopped to stare at Carey. “I need you to do something, do you have a waterskin or something similar with you?” she asked her. 

Carey nodded, lifting an empty canteen she had on her. “Why?” 

She pointed at her private office’s door. “Take the door behind the desk. The illusion will break if you realize it is one. The code to open the door is 7069420, fill the waterskin with the ichor and catch up with us in the Hospital Dome.” Lucretia explained in a breath, Carey nodded and left through the wooden door.

Lucretia’s eyes searched the floor and landed on her staff, still laying on the ground. As she noticed this, Killian grabbed it and gave it back to her. A translucent bubble formed around the whole group and with a blinding light they all teleported somewhere else on the base.


	24. what 's done is done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone, of sorriest fancies your companions making, using those thoughts which should indeed have died with them they think on? Things without all remedy should be without regard. What’s done is done._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 2_

Not that the passage of time had any meaning to Lup in her current state, but it took her four years to start to think again, to have a coherent flow of thoughts. Before she felt, heard or saw anything, the first thing in her awareness was the panic of not knowing where, who or _how_ she was.

And thus Lup fought, focused, meditated, and thought about her past, revisiting every single memory, every detail that contributed to her sense of self. It took her years to finally channel this knowledge into conjuring a projection of herself, hoping to escape the darkness and crushing absence. But when she did, she found herself just as trapped as before: stuck in a claustrophobic cylindrical room, surrounded by layers and layers of red and black velvet curtains.

At least now she knew where she was. She was inside her creation, inside the Umbrastaff, and she desperately wished she had a wall to bang her head against for not realising her brilliant idea would backfire on her like that. Slowly, patiently, she meditated, and learned to project her senses outside, to her surroundings, but her magic was too bound, too thinned out to allow her to cast any spell or to move at all.

She would have fallen into slumber if one day she hadn’t felt the telltale sound of battle, just outside the metal door of the antechamber she was standing in, next to her own rotting corpse. A light flew in, the guard golem animated and burst outside, and a few minutes later she heard her brother’s voice.

“ _The best fucking wizard you’ve ever met, bitch_.”

In her velvet prison, Lup called, screamed with joy, pulled the curtains from the walls. He’d know, he’d recognize her, he’d free her.

 _There was no way he’d realize she was in there_ . The Umbrastaff wasn’t designed to fucking _vore people_ , it was a casting focus that was supposed to _absorb_ wands and focuses. The thought creeped into her mind and when Taako walked in - with Magnus! and Merle! - she immediately saw his face fall, as he kneeled in front of her. Lup’s projection tried to hold him, to hug him, to punch him even, but he couldn't feel her or hear her.

He took the Umbrastaff, put on her robe and ran away. Leaving the rest to deal with the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet - her masterpiece, granting absolute control over evoked fire. She screamed at him to go back, not to allow the dwarf to open that cursed vault, but stopped when she realized the true extent of her actions.

How _broken_ Taako was.

-

Something was wrong, and she realized this even before the boys confronted Lucretia - why did she look so old?! - and acted like they didn’t know her. Taako was _acting_ , she knew her brother when he was, but the other two were not and- _oh, gods, Davenport_!

The world had gone insane.

At least her creation would never hurt anyone anymore.

-

Julia was an interesting woman.

She was an outsider, a native of that world that had nothing to do with them except for the fact she married Magnus Burnsides of all things, but she had a way to worm inside Taako’s heart Lup envied and at the same time couldn't bring herself to hate her.

She was the anchor Lup couldn’t be.

And for that, Lup was grateful.

-

She ended up following her brother in his adventures, delighting in shouting remarks he could never hear, synchronizing her projection’s steps to his and pretending he knew she was by his side.

She mocked Jenkins and howled with laughter when Taako, wearing a poor disguise, blasted a guy screaming “say my name!”. She put out a show of force when the Umbrastaff absorbed the Arcane Core and she realized she could do magic of her own accord, given enough time and concentration.

She could make herself known.

-

When Barry appeared in the office doorway, she wanted to scream and hug him and smooch his brains out, but although he knew she existed - and that was amazing - he couldn’t hear her either, nor he could remember her properly.

His discussion with Taako confirmed it: they didn’t even consider the possibility that she was trapped in the umbrella, instead thought she was in the Astral Plane. Tsk, right, as if a dumb reaper could ever catch her.

-

Lup never wished to punch her brother in the face more than when he started flirting with the guy who was trying to kill them. Was he really so fucking weak in front of a pretty face?

She screamed and shouted for him to stop when she realized he meant to use the Relic himself. _It will break you_ , she cried, _it will hurt you!_ But the only thing she could do was slightly redirect his spell. She was using up her energy to stop him, but he still didn’t get the message, and Lup knew she was just delaying the inevitable.

She hoped he was going to be fine, when he woke up and acted like nothing happened, but she knew the consequences that harnessing the Light of Creation without precautions would have on his magic and his psyche.

 _She had to get out_ before Taako ran out of time.

-

When Taako opened his eyes, he expected to see his friends, or at least one of the Reclaimers, keeping an eye on him. Instead, sitting at the bottom of the bed, reading a book in her hands, was Lucretia. Her head was bandaged and her left eye black and swollen, a sharp contrast to her usual distinguished appearance.

Taako groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. Lucretia closed the book as soon as she noticed he was awake, laying it down on a small table. “I realize I'm probably the last person you want to see, but I needed to talk with you.” She sighed.

“Tell me _at least_ that you've inoculated them.”

Lucretia was silent. Taako gritted his teeth. “What are you waiting for?!”

“It- it's not that simple.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Taako realized that she had a waterskin on her lap and it wasn’t a stretch to assume it contained the second voidfish’s ichor. “It's a hundred years of memories: I don't know what effect the inoculation could have. It could destroy their minds, it will surely incapacitate them for a while…Also, I'm so close to putting the Light back together, I'm glad you've been helping me on that front-”

Taako theatrically rolled his eyes.

“- but I cannot predict what the others’ reactions will be and I most certainly cannot stop now that the Hunger is so close.”

“You should have thought about that when you erased _Julia_ ,” Taako hissed. He wanted to get up and punch the woman in the face, finish what he started, but for some reason his whole body felt like it got mashed up and put roughly back together. He was sore and slow and it even took an effort to speak.

“I've put the second Voidfish’s ichor in this,” she raised the waterskin, confirming his suspicions, “if that's what you think it's best, give it to them.”

“I see.” Taako said slowly, following every single movement of hers as she laid the canteen by his bedside. _He had to take the matter into his own hands then_.

“Now that we've cleared that, I have a single question for you.” She said calmly, joining her hands in her lap.

“Lay it on me,” Taako sighed.

“ _Taako, what the everloving shitballs_?” She deadpanned - oh, that's the Lucy he remembered - “You remembered from the beginning? How? Why didn't you tell me sooner, if you were on board with destroying the Relics?”

Slowly, as if he'd have to move it through syrup, Taako raised his arm, clenched his fist and then raised a single finger. “ _One_ , I was pretty shaken when I arrived and was still figuring out what to do.”

Lucretia nodded. Taako lifted another finger.

“ _Two_ , I had no idea _how_ I was the only one with an intact memory, but I had a feeling you were responsible for erasing them when you left me that sick stagecoach,” he sighed. “Damn, I miss that thing.”

Lucretia smiled a little, but didn't interrupt.

“ _Three_ , ok- I thought I could find out a way to get Fisher Two: Revenge Of The Voidfish from under your nose. That obviously failed.” He glared at her and her smile fell.

“ _Four_ , hold your horses, but I don't think that putting back together the Light Of Creation is a bad idea.”

Lucretia’s face lit up.

“I'm only gonna say this once, and deny I did it for the rest of my days, but -shit- _this place is home_ now, Luce. No matter the options, I'm not gonna leave it to be destroyed.” He paused. “I don't like your bubble plan either, if that's what you're still going with, but I'm not gonna leave Julia, or Johann, or Avi or even that little nosy detective boy you've brought around. No, siree, for once and for the last time, Taako stays exactly where he is.”

By the time he had finished, Lucretia was smiling fondly, looking even a little moved. She opened her mouth when Taako lifted his thumb, showing her his open palm now.

“ _Five_ . And if you say this to anyone I'm gonna rip your throat - I wanted to stay _with_ them. Going on missions and celebrating holidays and- for fuck’s sake, you know, I just wanted to mess with you.” He swallowed and closed his eyes just as he felt tears starting to form “And that's all from Cha’Boy, you can go and write this down, close it, sigil it and forget it.”

Lucretia was still, in uncomfortable silence. Taako just stared back, eyes darting from her to his own raised hand, until the woman slowly scooted the chair next to the bedside, lifted her hand and high fived him, with a small smile.

Taako stared, trying his best not to burst out laughing. “Dammit,” he lowered his arm, fighting the smile that appeared on his lips by turning his head, “I'm supposed to be angry at you but you saw the chance and you took it.”

“I'm glad you're not angry,” she said fondly, sitting down on his bedside. “I’ve been lonely.”

Taako’s smile quickly disappeared, but he didn’t turn his head to face the woman. “Lucretia,” he called her in the end. “Don’t misunderstand.”

Lucretia tensed when Taako looked back at her, his face now completely expressionless. “You did some fucked up shit, Luce. I don’t think I would ever be able to hate you, you’re _family_ after all.” A hesitant smile appeared on her lips, just before he concluded his sentence. _“But I don’t think I’ll be able to trust you ever again_.”

Lucretia opened her mouth to reply, then closed it and, frowning, looked away. “I get it.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Taako attempted to sit up with a groan. He was still sore, but it wasn’t as bad as when he’d just woken up. “So, why the fuck am I in the hospital wing anyway?”

Lucretia nodded. “Barry called it a Wild Magic Surge?”

Taako frowned and then groaned loudly, dropping his face in his hands. “ _Shit-_ Really?”

“I gather you know what it means?” Lucretia wondered, nodding at the book she’d been reading when he woke up. “I read something about it, but I thought it would only affect _sorcerers_.”

“Yeah, you know,” he glared at her, “even wizards have a measure of innate arcane power and- _oh, shit, it was the goddamn Light of Creation, wasn’t it_ ?” he groaned again, sagging his shoulders. “ _This fucking sucks_ …”

Lucretia arched an eyebrow.

“I channeled my magic through an unstable focus and I ended up destabilizing it...I guess. I don’t know the specifics, ask Barold,” he complained. “It’s shitty, I feel like shit and I just wanna sleep and it sucks.”

The hospital doors opened, and Killian strode in. “I've put the kid to bed, how's- oh, you're awake,” she slowed down as she approached them cautiously.

“Thank you, Killian.” Lucretia said, slipping back into her Director persona like second nature.

Killian’s eyes darted between her and Taako gingerly. “You two are good, then?”

“Peachy keen, that bridge is crossed and burned.” Taako lifted his head, flashing her one of his best studied smiles. He promised but he _really didn’t want to deal with Killian for the moment._

“Try to get some rest,” Lucretia sighed, glancing at the waterskin, “and- think about it, ok?”

He nodded, then fell back on the bed and closed his eyes. A way like another to ask to be left alone.

He heard them walk away and leave and for a moment he actually considered to jump right out of bed and rush to his friends with the flask, but the overall state of his body got the better of him and after a few minutes, he once again fell asleep.

He didn't see the Umbrastaff, hanging by the bedside, swing of its own volition and fall to the ground.

-

Killian walked with Lucretia back to the office. They had put the door back in place, but there was still work to do with the torn up furniture and debris all around the room.

“So,” Killian broke the awkward silence, “you two know each other, I can then freely assume Taako is an actual member of the Red Robes?”

Lucretia sighed, “The Red Robes aren’t exactly what I painted them to be, but yes.” She sat down on her chair. Davenport walked in holding a tray with a cup of vanilla-scented chamomile.

“All right,” Killian nodded smugly, she was looking forward to rubbing that in Carey’s face.

“Magnus, Merle and Barry too…” Lucretia added.

Killian stared. “What? Is- is Magnus even a spellcaster?”

Lucretia smiled, for some reason that sentence sounded extremely funny to her. “As I said, not exactly what I painted them to be.”

Killian shook her head. “So, you’re a Red Robe, they’re Red Robes, is there any more Red Robes I should know about?” she snorted.

Lucretia took a sip of chamomile, “Davenport.”

Killian couldn’t stop herself. “Davenport?!” she shrieked.

“Davenport!” the gnome exclaimed, hearing his name being called.

“Davenport?!” Killian repeated, gesticulating towards him.

Continuing to drink her tea, Lucretia smiled.


	25. the whirligig of time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal; an you smile not, he’s gagged?” and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act 5 Scene 1_

Taako and Lup spent a good century of their life trying to convince the rest of the crew that the common belief that  _ elves don’t sleep _ was absolute bullshit. 

And it was, in a way. Elves can  _ choose  _ not to sleep and function perfectly with two to four hours of meditation or  _ trancing  _ every day, and the twins did, for years, when they were alone on the road and it was the only safe way to rest, to meditate in cycles while the other kept watch.

But when they enrolled into the IPRE academy, and had a room of their own, three meals per day and a safe space to be who they were, you could bet they started sleeping through the night. And more. Lup almost immediately picked up a decent schedule, but Taako would stay in bed for 12 hours and complain he was tired for the remaining 12. The 50/50 ratio remained on planes with longer or shorter days. 

Taako absolutely  _ loved  _ sleeping. One more reason why, when he realized he couldn’t just sleep his problem off, he was more than pissed.

Following the advice of the BoB healer Lucretia had assigned him to, he needed slow and constant practice to get his magic back on track. True, it was already getting better with less random effects, especially at low level spells, but practice was boring, so as soon as he could he sneaked past the guards and out of the hospital dome. 

Screw Lucretia and her woulda, coulda and shoulda, he was doing this. Magnus deserved it, Julia deserved it. He would inoculate them and then everything would go back as it was supposed to be and then- and then- 

He slowed down to a stop in the middle of the grass square he was passing through, traces of the chaos his outburst created were still visible all around.. 

_ Then what? _ They had more or less six months left in that world and no solid plan to follow on. The only two available options required them to recover the last two relics and obviously Lucretia couldn’t do that on her own or she wouldn’t have put up the whole Bureau operation. Taako was going to be out of commission for a while and, although he hated to admit it, Lucretia was right: there was no guarantee the others would help once they remembered. 

But there was one person who needed that sweet, sweet Voidfish juice as soon as possible. If Lucretia erased her from their memories, what had that left to herself? He turned 180 degrees and started running towards the brig. 

\- 

Julia was sharpening a fork on the bricks of the wall when she heard the guard talk and a rustle of keys. Quickly, she hid the makeshift weapon under the mattress and laid down, pretending to be sleeping. 

Someone walked in. The door didn’t close behind them. 

“Oh, nice, ok, that worked. Julia?” 

The woman immediately opened her eyes and stood up straight. It was not Lucretia who just walked in but Taako! He looked  _ tired _ and more nervous than she’d ever seen him but overall happy to see her, she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. 

“I’m so glad you’re here!” she exclaimed. 

“I charmed the guard but I don’t know how long it will hold, my magic is glitching like cray-zee!” He explained, breaking out the jazz hands. 

Julia laughed. “What do you mean?” 

“Long story, you-” he frowned, looking at her up and down. “Wait, you’re alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she scoffed, “except for the fact that Madam Director locked me up in a fancy cage. Let’s get out of here, I have to smooch my husband!” 

Julia motioned to run towards the exit, where the guard was humming something with a blissful expression, but she stopped when she realized Taako was standing still at the center of the room, looking at her with a too familiar expression. 

“Oh, I know that face,” she started, worried. “What’s going on?” She asked calmly, walking up to him. 

He told her. 

He watched as tears formed in her eyes, but she smiled nonetheless and nodded. “It’s ok, you’ve got the ichor with you, right? We can give it to Maggie and everything will be fine!” 

She tried to drag him towards the door, again he didn’t budge an inch. 

“Taako?” she frowned. 

“I- is that a good idea?” Taako avoided her gaze. “That’s a shitload of memories, he-” he swallowed, “he’s only human.” 

Julia frowned. “Since when has that stopped us? What the hell are you having second doubts for?”

“His mind might not make it through, I- I don’t want to risk that before the- ” 

Julia slapped him. She didn’t even need to know where he was getting to. 

“I must sound so hypocritical to you..:” he laughed bitterly. 

Julia sighed, “no,” she said softly. “But it hurts me to see that you can’t-” Julia paused, looking for the right words. “You’ve been lying for so long you don’t know how to be honest with yourself.” 

Taako opened his mouth to reply but couldn’t find the way to rebut. 

“You’re not afraid for their health, that’s bullshit,” Julia crossed her arms. “You’re afraid once they remember they’ll be angry at you for not telling the truth at them, which is even more bullshit because you weren’t able to until now!” 

Taako shrugged. “Kinda like that, ok- fair enough. But I  _ did  _ use them, to collect the Relics, I mean, and they might not be on board with that plan anymore. Taako is a shitty wizard for the time being and I can do shit on my own.” 

“Well, I’m on your side,” she interrupted, without missing a beat, “Now, let’s go get my husband back .” 

As soon as she spoke those words, the door of the cell slammed close. 

“Aw, shit-” Taako started, seeing that the guard had woken up and was picking up his stone of farspeech. Without thinking, he raised the Umbrastaff and charged a Magic Missile. 

Instead of three filaments of light, the tip of the staff seemed to explode in a puff of smoke, throwing Taako backwards on the floor.

“Well...that happened,” he deadpanned, after a moment of shock.

Julia smirked and extracted her sharpened fork, extending a hand through the bars, grabbed the guard’s shirt and pulled him, slamming his face against them. His Stone of Farspeech fell to the ground before he could activate it. 

“Open the door, now.” She ordered, calmly.

Taako rose on his feet, dusted his tunic and walked up to her. “What the competent lady said, please.” 

After a moment of hesitation, the man pulled out the keys and opened the lock. The two of them rushed out, literally running over him. 

“I might get some kind of bad reputation,” Taako laughed as they ran out of the brig, “Taako the Walking Typhoon! No, it doesn’t sound flattering...”

“What the hell have you been up to?” Julia laughed as they pushed through the defenses. The elf was a shitty fighter but he was a goddamn flip wizard and it was enough to catch the ones who tried to stop them off guard, Julia was as much a powerhouse as her husband: it had been a while since the two of them adventured together but they still moved in sync well enough to emerge victorious from the bowels of the prison. 

As soon as they were outside, Taako’s Stone of Farspeech lit up, Barry’s worried voice coming out of it. 

“I thought my indications were pretty clear, you should be resting!” He sounded pissed, quite unusual. “Where are you?” 

“Booooring!” Taako moaned, “I broke a friend out of prison!” 

“You- what?! Taako!”

“Barold!” he mocked him, Julia laughed too. “Look, can you tell Magnus and Merle to be at the dorm in ten?”

A moment of silence, then. “Oh.” A sharp breath. “Ok, sure, on it!” he was smiling, Taako could tell that, from only his voice. 

“Let’s go.” Taako announced, pocketing back the stone. “This is it.” 

“This is it.” Julia nodded. 

\- 

Magnus couldn’t stop staring at the woman sitting beside Taako. He never met her before, he was positively sure and yet, although impolite, he found himself looking at her like you’d look at a sunrise, with his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes wide open at the point he fought not to blink. 

She smiled at him and he smiled back. 

It was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Taako was in the partially destroyed kitchen area, trying to find three matching glasses that survived the mayhem, upon failing in his search he opted for two mismatched wine glasses and a bowl. 

“What happened here?” The woman wondered at the overall chaos of the common room. 

“Taako went crazy,” Merle replied. “Like, batshit crazy. Magic tornado craz-”

Barry kicked him under his chair, shooting Taako an apologetic look. 

“Here you go!” Taako slammed the containers, filled with two fingers of gooey greenish liquid. “An order of fish poop with a side of memories, my dudes. I spiked it with vodka to make the taste more bearable.” 

Merle swirled the glass like you’d see a sommelier appreciate an aged wine but didn’t drink, neither did Magnus, who was still looking at Julia like hypnotized. It was Barry who gulped the ichor straight down without missing a beat, first.

And everyone’s eyes fixed on him as he scrunched his face for the disgusting taste. Taako started fiddling nervously with his own hair as Barry just sat there, waiting for some kind of comment or reaction.

“Well, that’s the worst thing you’ve ever served me since-” he stopped, frowning. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head, and when he opened them and looked up at them again he started heaving in panic. When his eyes landed on Taako, he all of a sudden shot up on his feet, throwing the chair on the floor. “Shit!” he slammed a palm on his face, eyes wide open like they were going to fall out of his head. “Shit!” he only mumbled several times, stepping back and holding his head until he toppled over the fallen chair. 

“That doesn’t look promising…” Merle shot him a concerned look and set the glass back on the table. 

Taako sagged his shoulders, one hand partially extended towards Barry like he wanted to help but didn’t know how to. Panicking, he started to mutter the Sleep incantation.

“ _ Stop _ !” Barry groaned. “ _ No magic _ !” he glared up at him. “You’re still sick- dammit!” He threw back his head and drew a sharp breath.

“Are you ok?” Merle frowned. “Need healing?” 

“I feel like I’ve got a stampede going on in my head but I’m fine.” Barry nodded, his eyes closed shut with tears forming at the edge. “And you two should definitely drink that.” 

Magnus still looked doubtful, Merle just shrugged.

“Eh, I’ve had worse hangovers.” The dwarf said and chugged down the whole thing. Magnus followed suit. 

Taako nervously stared at them, kneeling down beside Barry, who extended an arm to grip his shoulder, still holding his head with the other hand. Taako hesitated a moment, but gave him the Umbrastaff to hold, Barry grabbed it like his life depended on it and held it to his chest with teary eyes. “Maybe,” he started, swallowing to avoid his voice breaking. “Try not to remember everything at once? It might help…” he addressed them. 

“Uh-” Merle just stood still, eyes unfocused and expression blank. 

Magnus looked around confused, until his eyes went back to Julia, still sitting in front of him. “Oh…” he started tearing up. “Jules…” he called. Julia beamed and stood up to launch herself in his arms. 

“Oh,  _ Jules, _ I’m so sorry, I’m-” he sobbed, embracing her. 

She kissed him and stroke his head gently, looking over his shoulder at Taako with gratitude. “Hold that thought, big man,” she giggled. “You got to fall in love with me all over again.”

Magnus laughed through the tears. “I did,” he confirmed, “I totally did.”

\- 

Taako was no storyteller and he undoubtedly waxed rhapsodic about himself more often than not, but he followed Barry’s suggestion to help them remember and simultaneously tell Julia the whole truth about their journey by narrating the salient points of the story. 

Julia listened intently, holding her husband’s hand tight for the whole time, watching him process and elaborating the information, fitting pieces of his past like pieces of a puzzle. The Magnus Taako described was childish, self-obsessed and reckless, but it was the Magnus Julia had met all those years ago in Raven’s Roost, before the apprenticeship, before the rebellion.

“Oh my god, Mags,” Julia grinned, in between a pause in the story. “You’re a fucking  _ spaceman _ !” 

It was when Taako started talking about his last ten years, how he used the travelling show to collect information and look for them, and got to the point of the first inoculation, how he thought that was gonna fix everything just to remain disappointed, that Merle finally spoke again. 

“How the hell did you keep your memories, though? It doesn’t make sense, the second Voidfish wasn’t born yet.”

“That...” Taako raised a finger and let a poignant pause follow, “...is an excellent question!”

Merle rolled his eyes. 

Before Taako could answer seriously, though, Magnus abruptly stood up. “Wait a second!” he exclaimed, frowning. “Did Lucretia do all of this shit because we didn’t approve of her plan?” 

Taako shrugged. “That basically sums it up. I’m sure she also wanted to relieve us of the guilt of creating the relics but that was seriously the worst course of action she could take.”

“That doesn’t justify erasing Julia!” Magnus roared.

“No, I absolutely agree, that was fucked up! Why do you think I attacked her?!”

Magnus blinked, reeled back and frowned. “Oh, I- you did when I said- oh…”

“You attacked Mad- Lucretia?!” Julia looked at Taako in a mix of awe and shock. “Seriously, I was in prison for  _ a day _ ! I can’t believe I missed that much.”

“I’m glad you missed that though, girl.” Merle glared at Taako. “It wasn’t a pleasant sight.”

“Does that have anything to do with your magic ‘ _ glitching _ ’?” Julia air-quoted.

“Ye-  _ no _ . That’s because of  _ another  _ fuck-up…” Taako mumbled.

“The whole Philosopher’s Stone shit, I guess. I can’t believe you got thralled by your own Relic, though!” Magnus exclaimed.

Taako pointed at him. “ _ Shut up _ . I wasn’t thralled, I just miscalculated!” 

“Speaking of the Relics, what are we going to do about them? There still three -  _ no, shit, ok _ \- two of them out there!” Barry realized, looking at Magnus. “ _ Our _ two.”

“We collect them. We need the Light whole in both alternatives.” Taako admitted. 

“Yeah, no,” Magnus stepped forward. “Both alternatives  _ suck _ . Barry has been saying Lucretia’s bubble will  _ kill _ us all since forever-” Barry nodded in confirmation. “And I’d rather die here than fly away and reset!” He held Julia’s hand as tightly as he could without hurting her. 

“Honestly, same!” Merle followed. “I’ve got kids down there, I’m not leaving them to the Hunger!” 

“I know,” Taako nodded.

“Wait,  _ kids _ ?!  _ You're _ a dad?” Barry squinted his eyes at Merle, who waved at him dismissively. 

“We don’t have much time anyway, both to recover them and to figure out another plan,” Taako continued.

“What do you mean?” Barry asked.

“Oh, right, shit, you don’t know!” Magnus realized, with a grim expression. “The Hunger’s coming, we saw the scouts at Midsummer.”

Barry’s face contorted in horror, before setting on a more neutral expression as he looked down at the Umbrastaff. 

“We still have time,” Julia said, calmly. “And I think  _ all  _ of you should discuss this together,” she emphasized the  _ all _ . 

“I might punch Lucretia in the face if I see her again,” Magnus gritted his teeth. 

“Leave it,” Taako waved a hand. “She’s already wallowing in her regret, and I gave her a nice black eye already.” 

“Should we just- what? Pretend this never happened and reclaim the last relics for the Bureau?” Merle tapped his fingers on the table. 

“That,” Taako grinned slowly, after a few seconds of silence. “Or go full  _ villains _ .” 

The four of them gave him all sorts of perplexed looks.

“I mean -  _ and this just came to me in a stroke of genius, _ I swear,” he chuckled. “She painted us as this ominous group of evildoers who wanted to cast the world into chaos. I propose,” he extracted Lup’s robe from his Bag of Holding and dramatically wrapped it around his shoulders, “we fucking  _ follow through  _ on that.” 

After a moment of stupor, Barry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s an awful idea.” 

Simultaneously, Merle burst out laughing. “I love it!” 

“So, what do we  _ do  _ exactly?” Magnus asked, intrigued. 

“We grab Luce’s staff and look for the rest of the Relics on our own!” Taako spread his arms. “Barold is the one who split the light in the first place, he should be able to put it back together!” 

Julia smiled, starting to like where this was going. 

“Hey, wait a second!” Merle realized. “What about Davenport?”

“Davenport?” Julia exclaimed. “ _ Davenport _ is a member of your group?”

“He’s our  _ captain _ ,” Taako stressed. “And he’s been humiliated for long enough,” he said, looking at Merle.

“Wait,” Barry interrupted him. He sighed deeply when he got the attention of the rest of the group. “You might not like what I’m going to say, but the Captain’s gonna want to fly the Starblaster away from this System the moment he realizes what’s going on. We can’t allow him to until we have a solid alternative plan.” He announced severely. 

“Mh,” Magnus looked troubled, but nodded. “Yeah, I agree.” 

“Sounds sensible.” Merle said. “Besides, he’s safe here. So, do we go rogue immediately or not?” 

“As soon as the Bell or the Magnus Cup is found, I guess?” Taako proposed. “I kinda got the attention on me right now, after yesterday’s stunt and breaking Jules out of prison, sooo…” 

Julia giggled, looking at her husband. “Your relic is called The Magnus Cup?” 

“Yeah!” Magnus grinned. “It’s a divination cup!” 

“I’m sure Luce gave it a more appropriately ostentatious name. I never named mine  _ The Philosopher’s Stone _ .” Taako said mockingly. 

“I did name mine  _ The Animus Bell _ ,” Barry supplied. 

“Because you’re a nerd.” Taako and Merle spoke in chorus. 

“Uh, oh!” Magnus frowned and seemed to realize something. “Wait a minute, wait- I know where the Cup is .” 

Taako grinned. 

“I- I left it to a friend, shortly after I made it! He resisted the thrall despite having many regrets and kept it safe during the War! He-” Magnus smiled, “His name is Jack Lethbridge, he should still be living in a mining and farming town near the Woven Gulch!” 

“There’s no report of the Cup ever being used during or after the war, true,” Barry started, cautiously. “But, due to its nature, we can’t really know…”

Magnus glared at him. “ He didn’t use it. I know Jack, he would never do that!” 

Barry raised his hands, defensive. 

“Can we just go rogue right now, then?” Merle rubbed his hands together. 

Barry sighed but agreed, Magnus and Julia smiled and Taako looked like he was going to conquer the world with a smile. 

“Let’s claim the stage!”


	26. not fair terms and a villain's mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act 1 Scene 3_

Avi was  _ tired _ . In the couple of days days following Candlenights, employees started coming back and calling for transportation spheres from all over the coast and there was never enough of them. In one of his rare breaks, he took a swig of whiskey laced with coffee - and not the other way around - from his flask and as he put it back he saw Merle approaching.

“‘Sup, Avi,” the dwarf said, sauntering forward with a skip in his step, “Rough day?”

“You could say that,” Avi eyed him suspiciously. He was geared up like for a mission, but he was alone and there were definitely no missions impending. “What’s going on?” 

“Listen, listen, can I get downstairs for a couple of hours?” Merle winked at him and clicked his tongue in a ridiculously sassy fashion, Avi backed away uncomfortably. 

“Look, I’d love to help, but the spheres are already preeetty busy,” he grimaced. 

“Come on,” Merle insisted. 

“No! Sorry, but I need- what’s all the hurry anyway?” 

Merle paused, then raised a finger, like he had an idea. “I need to give my kids their Candlenights presents,” he said in a breath. 

_ That sounds fake but ok. _ “Candlenights was three days ago,” Avi deadpanned. “Also, can’t you just send it through a courier?”

“It’s exactly because it’s three days late that I cannot send it by courier! Can you imagine?” Merle checked the time on a pocket watch. “The presents arrive late and I don’t even give them in person?” 

Avi frowned. “So, what are you bringing them exactly? You’ve got nothing with you.” 

“Uh, I’m gonna buy them when I land!” 

“Nuh-uh,” Avi narrowed his eyes. “Sorry, man,” he turned around when he received another signal from the surface. He approached the commands and loaded an empty sphere to pick up whoever sent it. 

“Ok, well, I’m out of time. I was supposed to get in a sphere for this, but fuck it.” 

The cannon fired. 

Avi turned around to find Merle, sitting on the floor near the wall, with his eyes closed. 

“Uh? Merle?” 

As he approached he realized something weird was going on: the dwarf’s figure was grayscale and translucent, as if it was made of smoke. 

Avi blinked, turned around and downed the rest of the flask. 

\- 

To be completely honest with himself, when the Director asked him to check on Taako, Angus expected to find the infirmary room empty with a 80% margin of certainty. 

As he walked in, he stared at the elf, conjuring speckles of dancing light and performing tricks with them: he was sitting cross-legged on the bed but was otherwise looking peaceful and even relaxed, a thin smile on his lips and humming a song. 

“Hello, sir!” Angus called, catching his attention. 

“Oh, if it’s not the boy detective-” he said, with a hint of annoyance but still generally calm. 

“I’ve-” 

“Agnes McRonald.” 

Angus’ eye twitched. “Close. I’ve come to check on you on behalf of the director. A prisoner escaped the brig yesterday and she’s been overwhelmed with paperwork since then.”

“Nice,” Taako smirked, then proceeded to switch spell and the lights turned into a tiny flame. 

Angus sat in the chair at the bottom of his bed, staring at the movements Taako made and before he knew it he’d started mimicking them with his hands. The wizard noticed this and grinned, “hey, listen, kiddo,” he dispelled the flame. “You a magic user?” 

“Uh- no, but-” 

“Would you like me to teach you something?” 

Angus’ eyes widened, “Would you- For real, sir?!” he exclaimed in wonder. 

Taako shrugged, “Yeah, sure.” He glanced at the clock hanging above the entrance door. “I’ve got a little time on my hands.” 

He attempted to switch to a level 2 spell, casting Levitate, but a small explosion in front of his face knocked him back. Angus shot up on his feet, worried. 

Taako gave him a thumbs up. “I’m ok!” 

\- 

Barry moved through the shelves of the library, occasionally taking out of his pocket a crystal focus and positioning it behind some books, then moving again, counting his steps. The dome was mostly empty at that hour in the morning: months of working as a Seeker made him familiar enough with its layout and the habits of the people who worked there. 

_ He didn’t expect Killian, _ but again, the orc woman had proved to be more often than not unpredictable. He tried to sneak past her, but critical missed and stumbled, falling face first on the floor, the last couple of focuses rolling out of his pockets. 

“Bluejeans,” Killian noted his presence, closing the book she was reading. “You’re as graceful as a Bugbear.” 

“I’m a sorcerer, not a rogue…” Barry groaned, as she helped him back on his feet. “It’s rare to see you here,” he checked the time on a pocket watch he had on him, “what’s up?” 

Killian shrugged. “Curiosity. Besides, I do enjoy reading. The Director asked me to find a good read for her, since she cannot leave her office right now. Lots of paperwork after the jailbreak,” she glared at him. “Do you have something to do with it?” 

“No, that was Taako.” 

Killian snorted. “You’re not even trying to hide it.” 

“What would be the point?” he shrugged with a small smile. 

Killian frowned, taken aback for a moment by- there was something imperceptibly different than usual about the man’s behaviour. She feigned ignorance, pretending to browse the titles on the shelves. “So what brings you here? Seeker work?” 

“No, not quite,” he nervously checked the watch again. “This dome is on top of one of the Arcane Engines.” 

Killian stopped. “Excuse me, what?”  _ Where was he going with that? _

“You should-” he steepled his fingers, pressing his indexes against his mouth before moving his hands to point at her. “Get out”

“Why?” she moved a hand on her back to grip the handle of a dagger hidden under her shirt. 

Barry looked around for a few seconds, muttering something under his breath, before focusing back on her. “Look, you seem like a  _ reasonable _ person. Taako told me he showed you the Starblaster-”

“The  _ what _ ?”

“The ship under the quad…”

Killian shook her head in disbelief. “It’s called the  _ Starblaster _ ?” She snorted.

Barry coughed nervously. “It’s a cool name-” he paused, “that you should not be able to hear.”

“And you to say, so Taako got you inoculated I suppose.” Killian leaned against the library, but didn’t let go of the dagger. “ _ Red Robe _ Bluejeans.”

Barry  _ tried  _ to hold back his laughter, but it proved impossible as it pushed past his pursed lips in some form of a raspberry before he gave in and burst out laughing. Killian shut her eyes closed and threw back her head. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

“No, no, it sounded amazing,” Barry wiped away a tear from his eyes. “Anyway, you should definitely get out of here,” he insisted, after checking on the time one more time. 

She opened her mouth to reply, but a nagging thought stopped her before she could voice  a protest.  _ He said it, _ he had said something and she  _ missed  _ it, what was it? 

“You’re a sorcerer?” she realized. Barry Bluejeans, pudgy, kind, bookworm Barry Bluejeans was a fucking  _ sorcerer _ .

“Yeah, shadow magic source. My grandfather did some weird-ass shit with the Plane of Shadow, never really fully understood what…”

She sighed, used to weird turn of events at this point. “Someday I’ll stop being surprised by the lots of you.” She grumbled. “So, what’s going on?” 

“Mh,” Barry pursed his lips. “Can’t really tell you, I need you out of here though.”

Killian frowned, and didn’t move.

“You can’t say I didn’t try to do this the easy way.” 

Before Killian could react, he lunged forward, pressing his palm against the base of her neck. Killian moved her hand to use the dagger and defend herself, but she felt a freezing cold pervade her body from the point of contact and she fell backwards, struggling to move or speak with no result.

Barry stepped back, laughing excitedly. “ _ Holy shit, that worked! _ Uh-” he leaned over Killian, waving a hand over her unblinking eyes. “It was kind of a wild bet: I never tried that while  _ alive _ . Interesting.” He chuckled again and disappeared behind a corner, positioning the last two crystal before coming back and lifting Killian from her ankles and he started dragging her out of the library. 

Completely paralyzed, her eyes burning as her eyelids refused to move like every other muscle, Killian was absolutely losing her shit.  _ That wasn’t a spell, what the fuck, what the fuck was going on? _

\- 

Magnus waltzed into the Voidfish chamber, waving cordially at the impassible guards, and quickly approached the tank.

“Hey, buddy,” he said, gently tapping a finger to catch Fisher’s attention. “You got big! Sorry I didn’t say hello before…” 

Fisher hummed a long low note and moved a few tentacles close to where Magnus was squishing his face against the glass. 

Magnus grinned. “I know Candlenights was three days ago, but I’ve got a present for you!” he exclaimed, extracting a carved wooden duck from a satchel. “You remember these? You remember! Of course you do!” Magnus said in a funny voice, mimicking Fisher’s excitement. They made a long, shrill noise and started twirling and moving up and down. 

“What the actual fuck is even going on here?” a familiar voice said, as Johann’s head popped out from behind the tank. 

“Oh, hey, Johann!” Magnus greeted him. “Gonna borrow that ladder over there to give this to Fisher!” 

“Hey, hold on- you can’t just- Fisher?” Johann stumbled, looking around nervously. 

“It’s his name!” Magnus exclaimed, already climbing the ladder on the side of the tank, until he reached the top and sat on the edge, splashing his hand in the water for a bit until Fisher’s top emerged. They extended a few tendrils outside of the water, wrapping them gently around the wooden sculpture. 

“Look, buddy, listen,” Magnus started, letting his gift go. “I’m gonna... _ be away _ for awhile, I don’t know for how long.” He glanced down at Johann. “Johann’s gonna take good care of you in the meantime, I promise I’ll come back.  _ I promise I’ll bring your kid back to you _ .” 

With a loud noise not too different from a roar, the giant jellyfish rose above the water surface, and spinned, sprinkling the whole room below in slimy blue water, and sunk back in. 

Magnus laughed and climbed back down, under Johann’s baffled - and soaked - stare. 

“Hey, Johann,” Magnus approached him. “Still on board with us?” 

“What? Uh- yeah, I guess…” 

“Good. I’m gonna break this tank. I need you to sound the alarm and make as much noise as possible, ok?” 

“You want me to be a distraction...” Johann sighed, “Yeah, ok. Last plan didn’t go so well, anyway.” 

Magnus grinned.

-

Lucretia was making an effort to put all of her focus and concentration into the paperwork on her desk: she shut herself in her private office, increasing security around her office in fear of Barry’s and Magnus’ reaction once they realized how much she’d taken from them.  She also allow herself to hope Taako would have at least enough doubts to delay the inevitable.

Such hopes evaporated when her office completely disappeared before her eyes and she found herself sitting on what looked like a paper chair surrounded by a room completely made by books, from the spiralling staircase in a corner, to the chair she was sitting on. There was no ceiling, but the walls were impossibly high, letting only a fragment of purple sky be seen. 

“Mh, this is new,” a familiar voice said. “I suppose the appearance depends from the host.” 

Lucretia stood up, looking around and finally at Merle, sitting on another book-chair. 

“You know,” she smiled, “you could have just visited me in my office, but it’s interesting to finally see what a Parlay room looks like.” 

“It was different with John,” Merle explained calmly. “All sharp and futuristic, with a big window and the sunset…” He smiled kindly at her. “Hello kid,” he laughed. “It’s still weird, some part of me refuses to stop thinking of you as  _ my boss _ .”

Lucretia chuckled bitterly. “Why am I here, Merle?” 

The dwarf mused on it for a solid minute. Then joined the tips of his fingers and gave her his best impression of an evil laughter. 

“Is that- was that an impersonation of Garfield from Fantasy Costco?” She wondered, looking around awkwardly. 

“No, it was- Nevermind! I just, I just need to keep you here for a while,” he checked the time on a pocket watch. 

Lucretia sighed. “ What are you trying to accomplish here, Merle?” 

“Oh, it’s not just me! It’s a joint operation! You’re gonna love it!” he paused, “or  _ hate  _ it. Anyway, it’s gonna be spectacular.”

\- 

For the second time in the last few days, Julia sneaked into Lucretia’s laboratory. This time, though, she was prepared: she didn’t even think about the illusion as true for it to envelop her and she threw an enchanted cloth Barry made for her over the alarm bell, before it could ring.

Lucretia didn’t even change the code to open the door, she was either really sure of herself or had completely given up on keeping them out of the place. 

“Hello, little one,” Julia waved at the little Voidfish. “It’s me again. You haven’t seen a big hidden chest around here, haven’t you?” 

The alien jellyfish just kept floating silently. 

“Figured,” Julia smiled. She started scanning the room pressing her hand on the walls to find any kind of hidden compartment, until finally a metal section yielded under her finger and a compartment opened at floor level. 

Grinning, she dragged out the chest and opened it. 

“Mags?” She called, activating her Stone of Farspeech. “I found them, I’m gonna send them through the Shared Pouch of Transfer right now!” 

“Got it!” Magnus’ reply came immediately. 

Julia caressed the soft fabric, masterfully crafted, bright crimson with golden rims and buttons and a brilliant blue patch on the left breast pocket. “They’re beautiful,” she grinned. 

\- 

The clock struck 10.

\- 

Barry, Killian’s still body at his feet, dramatically held up his hands in front of the Library’s doors. A few passerbys glanced at him in curiosity and amusement, at least until the explosions started. 

\- 

The entire Bureau of Balance shook and tilted. 

\- 

“Welp, that’s my cue!” 

Taako had been in the middle of stomping down a malformed scary Mage Hand that Angus had produced when the room tilted and the beds started sliding towards one corner. Taako jumped back on his feet, grabbing the Umbrastaff and getting out of the way just in time before getting hit by the sliding furniture. 

“Wha- what’s going on?!” Angus exclaimed, scared. 

“Don’t worry, bubs! It’s just a diversion,” he laughed, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of harm’s way. 

“What did you do? We’re falling!” He screamed, panic in his eyes. 

“Chill.” Taako laughed. “We’re not falling, just putting on a show.” 

“A- a- a show?!” 

Taako hummed, walking towards the exit, throwing the red uniform over his shoulders and fixing his hat. “Let’s call it Attack on the Moonbase. All fake, tho’, don’t worry. We just need to get the Director’s attention before we leave.” 

Just as he opened the door and almost walked out, he heard Angus’ voice call again from behind. 

“Sir?” he said, “Please don’t leave.” 

Taako froze, and looked back at him in mild panic. Angus was looking up with the most pitiful expression, gripping tightly on a piece of furniture to stand on his feet. 

Taako grimaced and groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Dammit,” he muttered in the end, striding towards Angus, kneeling and lifting him over one shoulder. If the kid hadn’t been so thin he probably wouldn’t have been able to, but Taako lifted him up with almost no effort. 

“So, now I have an hostage,” he muttered, leaving the room. “Cool.” 

\- 

“Oh, it should be about time now,” Merle said, just before Lucretia was tossed out of the Parlay room abruptly and fell to the ground. Realizing the room was tilted, she immediately shot up on her feet and rushed out of her office. 

“Madam Director!” the guards exclaimed when they saw her rushing out of the door. 

“Report.” She ordered, signaling them to follow her towards the emergency staircase - with the base in that state the elevator was probably off-limits.

“There was a magic short circuit under the library, one of the main Engines failed. We’re keeping altitude but the other two Arcane Engines are straining.” The orc announced. “Witnesses report Barry Bluejeans acting aloof in front of the dome just before the explosion.” 

The other guard briefly glared at him. 

Lucretia fought the urge to bang her head against the wall.  _ It’s a joint operation, _ Merle had said. 

“Also, Johann reported damage to the Voidfish chamber and put it on lockdown,” the other guard continued, “shall we prepare for evacuation?”

“No!” she exclaimed, more vehemently than it was appropriate. “No,” she repeated calmly, “let’s focus on repairing the Engine first, send a message over everyone’s Stones of Farspeech to keep calm and collect information.” 

The three of them walked out of the staircase and in the middle of the Bureau, where several people gathered in panic. In the middle of the quad, definitely drunk and unconscious, was Avi. 

“The spheres...” Lucretia hissed, hurrying towards the cannons. A large portion of the crowd, seeing the Director, started to follow the three of them. 

In front of the launching console, instead of Avi, was standing a woman most of the Bureau’s employees could swear they’d never seen before. 

“Hello, Lucretia,” Julia called, turning around. Merle, who was getting on a sphere ready to depart, briefly waved at her. 

“Julia…” she called her name ruefully. The other woman had a mischievous smile on her lips.

“I really enjoyed not existing, you know? Quite the trick you pulled on me!” 

“It was a mistake.” 

“Thank the gods you recognized that!” she exclaimed, hands on her hips. 

A few shouts and cries moved their attention on the entrance they just came through. 

“Everybody move!” Taako’s unmistakable voice rose above the crowd, shrill and slightly panicked. “I’ve got a hostage!” 

The crowd parted. “What’s up with the kid?” Merle asked when Taako caught up with them, a shell-shocked Angus McDonald slung on his shoulder.

Lucretia sighed deeply. “Just,  _ what the fuck _ are you all doing?” 

“Going rogue!” Merle exclaimed. 

“Off the grid.” Julia supplied. 

“Fuck yeah!” Taako raised the arm he wasn’t holding Angus on. 

Lucretia was just  _ so done _ with them. “Why all of this though, can’t you just for once be subtle?” 

“Nah, we needed you to lower your guard, you see-” Taako grinned and as he made a gesture, the two guards on Lucretia’s sides grabbed one arm each, making her grasp on the Bulwark Staff loosen. 

“No!” she cried, as one of the guards let her go and lunged forward, grabbing the Relic. Lucretia fell to the ground just as a chorus of gasps and incredulous shouts came from the crowd. 

As she looked up, the Disguise spells on the guards melted away, revealing Barry and Magnus - holding the Bulwark Staff - , full clad in their IPRE robes. Robes that should have been hidden in her laboratory. The switch and the theft probably happened while she was trapped in Parlay.

Magnus glared at her, before closing his fist. “This is for Jules,” he said, moving to punch her. Lucretia flinched and closed her eyes, preparing for an impact that never came. Instead, when she opened her eyes, Magnus had stepped back. “Or so I’d like to say, but I’m not hurting you more than you already are.” He looked down at her as everybody else moved towards the sphere. “Anyway, your plan sucks, we’re taking it into our own hands.” Without giving her a second glance, he walked up to his wife and kissed her, before joining Merle inside the sphere, already programmed to depart. 

Barry was the last one to enter the sphere, for a moment he seemed to hesitate, looking over the crowd staring at them in horror and surprise. “Are you afraid?” he asked. Some people looked awkwardly at each other, somebody nodded slightly, somebody shrugged. Barry sighed, with a small smile, before returning serious. “You do not know how to be afraid.”

Sitting in the sphere, Merle pulled on Barry’s robe, but Taako stopped him. Lucretia saw him mouth something like “No, no,” he grinned, “I wanna see where he’s going with this.”

“We have no ill will against the members of this organization,” Barry continued to address the crowd, using a spell to make his voice louder, “but if you attempt to stop us, or come in our way…” he paused, dropping his voice an octave, “ _ you will learn fear _ .” 

Turning around, he joined the others and closed the sphere's door just seconds before a Mage Hand slammed on the big button on the console and the cannon activated shooting them towards the surface. 

Lucretia could have sworn she heard Merle laughing his ass off.


	27. doubts are traitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Measure by Measure,  Act 1 Scene 4_

At 10 years old, Angus McDonald had seen more things than most grown adults did in their entire lives. In more down-to-earth terms: he’d seen  _ some shit. _ This meant nothing when he was literally swept off his feet, dragged away from his new home by a group of people he considered friendly acquaintances but actually revealed themselves to the public as an infamous group of evil (?) masterminds.

“ _ You will learn fear _ ,” Merle repeated in a mocking tone, prompting another fit of laughs, while Barry kept hiding his face in his hands, the tips of his ears where bright red. 

“Hey, Taako, why the kid?” Magnus wondered, glancing awkwardly at Angus. 

Taako looked at the boy with a blank expression, then turned towards Magnus with the very same face, took a deep breath, raised a finger and slowly said, “Yes.”

\- 

“You said you had it under control!” Killian stormed into the Director’s office once she had recovered. Carey and No. 3113, who had taken care of her during the crisis, followed her while still trying to make a sense of what happened themselves. 

“The whole Bureau is in shambles! Everybody wants answers, and I don’t blame them-” Killian erupted, before realizing the chair was empty. There were a couple of empty wine bottles on the floor and the wooden door to her private office was open. 

“Uh-oh,” Carey said, picking up one of said bottles and turning it upside down. Only a few drops came out. 

When they walked into the private office, they found Lucretia, sitting at her desk with an almost empty bottle of red wine and a full glass. The woman was clearly drunk, her face buried in her arms, her body shaken by intermittent sobs. 

Carey approached her slowly, thinking she was crying, but was taken aback when she realized she was laughing . 

“Lucretia…” Killian hissed, not even bothering with the formalities anymore. 

“They sooo went all out, holy fuck…” the older woman slurred. “I forgot it wasn’t just Taako who liked being extra. That was so fucking ridiculous...” 

Killian gritted her teeth and grabbed the woman, lifting her out of her seat, ignoring the cries of shock of her friends. “What the hell is this? Get a grip on yourself!” 

“There’s no point. The Bureau is done. Last 10 years just went...poof…” she motioned with her hands, and then started laughing again. “The Red Robes, why did I think that was ever a good idea…” 

Killian inhaled sharply and would have surely lost her composure if Carey hadn’t put her hand gently on her shoulder. “Leave her, she’s not in her right mind now.” 

“That’s exactly what I’m pissed about!” Killian shook her off. “No more Reclaimers, I get it!” she jerked her head towards Lucretia. “But there’s still three Grand Relics out there! We have destroyed four and we can take care of the rest…” 

Lucretia giggled. “No, we haven’t,” she muttered. 

Killian froze, slowly letting her go. As soon as she was free, the woman pulled a lamp on her desk and one of the library shelves slid down to reveal… 

“Oh, are you fucking kidding me?! ” Killian screamed, stepping back. 

Behind the shelves, embedded in the wall there was a rack, holding the four Grand Relics collected in a display.

“It’s safe,” Lucretia said slowly, “they’re much less powerful, now. Also, no thrall…” she slurred, trying to grab the glass of wine. No. 3113 took it swiftly away from her, along with the bottle; Lucretia looked at it sadly but didn’t protest. 

Killian slowly approached, first caressing cautiously its surface, then grabbing the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet from its hanger. The metal was warm instead of cool to the touch, but not scorching hot as she remember it being when Merle recklessly slapped it in Wave Echo Cave. The memory of a few months before was so foreign now. 

“What happened to them? How have they lost their power?” 

Lucretia laughed, her face in her hands. “Do you wanna know? Do you want to know how fucked up this is?” 

Killian narrowed her eyes, then opened them wide as she realized what was amiss. “Your staff…” she hissed. Lucretia had been a Red Robe, one of the  _ seven _ depicted clearly on the painting hanging on the office wall - and she’s been  _ keeping  _ her Grand Relic. 

“The Bulwark Staff, the Grand Relic of Abjuration…” Lucretia said bitterly, cementing her suspicions. “I’ve been using it to absorb the Light of Creation out of them. They’re not as powerful as they were, but they’re still magic…” she giggled. “They have the Light and everything I’ve ever worked for is gone.” 

“Well, what about that?” Killian slammed her fist on the desk, startling her. “Everything I worked for is a lie! You were collecting the power I vowed to destroy and for what?” No answer. “For what, Lucretia?! ” she screamed. 

“I wanted to save you!” the woman replied, in a shrill tone. “I wanted to protect you all. This world...this planar system doesn’t have much time. The Light is the only mean of protection from The Hunger.” 

“The Hunger?” No. 3113 asked.

“A force of destruction,” she explained slowly, trying to get the right words out of the fumes of alcohol. “A plane of dissatisfaction bent on swallowing everything else. We’ve run from it for so long, created the relics to hide from it, but it found us. It announced its coming at the Midsummer Festival, we have only a few months before it reaches us.”

“Well, why didn’t you tell me this from the start, then?” Killian narrowed her eyes. 

“They want to fight it,” Lucretia trailed off, ignoring the question. “It won’t work, it won’t work…” she looked as if she was gonna fall asleep any moment. 

Killian breathed deeply, then looked at Carey and No. 3113 and slipped the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet on her hand. 

“Killian!” Carey called in fear. 

“I’m fine,” Killian nodded, examining the gauntlet. Small flames started dancing around her fingertips, although she’d never been a magic user, she was able to control them with her mind. It wasn’t the mighty power that leveled down Phandalin, but it was power, and it was under her control. 

She started walking towards the exit. 

“What are you gonna do?” Carey asked, concerned. 

“If she won’t bring the Bureau back on track, I’m gonna take the matter into my own hands.” Killian growled.

\- 

It was quite thrilling, Taako realized, how quickly they fell back into decades-old habits. Barry, immediately upon landing, started vandalizing the sphere’s arcane engine. Merle set up camp, forcing trees and shrubberies to grow into a rudimental structure to protect them, Magnus took off with Julia to hunt some dinner, and by the time they came back with a wild goat, Taako had already prepared the fire and cooking station. Angus kept to the side, in the shadow, still looking quite shocked by the whole string of events. 

“No way! You used Paralyzing Touch?!” Taako grinned wildly, once they’d all sat around the fire. 

“Yeah!” Barry laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, “I thought it wouldn’t work, it was kind of a wild bet…” 

“Dude, I wish I could have seen Killian’s face!” 

The six of them had camped around a fire in the arid area of the Woven Gulch, beside the transportation sphere deprived by its engine, that Barry was currently disassembling to create something that would interfere with the signature of their bracers. 

Angus just stood on the side, baffled, as these five people, without exchanging a single word, had moved completely in sync. He was whisked off without much of a warning so he hadn’t brought his usual investigation equipment: he had, however, prepared for a magic lesson, so in his pocket there was a small practitioner’s wand, a notebook and a piece of carbon to write. 

“I’m sorry we dragged you into this.” A sudden voice made him jump, and he realized that, while lost in his thoughts, he completely missed Julia approaching him. 

“It’s ok,” Angus nodded, composing himself. “I’ve been kidnapped before.” 

“You’re a serious little kid, aren’t you?” Julia gave him a concerned look, sitting beside him. “We really didn’t mean to kidnap you,” she explained, looking at her husband and his friends laughing and joking around the campfire. 

They had no home, no place to go back to, no Bureau to back them up, and yet they were laughing and chatting like they had no care in the world. It was a heartwarming sight, but the way the woman was looking at them suggested differently. 

“Are you jealous?” Angus wondered, looking at her. 

Julia laughed, “You know? Just a little bit,” she admitted sadly, “but this is ok. I’ve been travelling with my husband and Taako for years but...I’ve never seen them so happy.” 

Angus nodded, then jumped down from the log he was sitting on, looking towards the group. 

“Are you the bad guys?” he wondered, approaching them. 

Taako snorted, gaining brief hostile glances from Barry and Magnus. 

“Yes, definitely,” Merle grinned, “We kidnap children on a regular basis and we’re planning to eat you tomorrow.” 

“With all due respect, sir, that’s bullshit.” Angus deadpanned, “I’m serious.” 

“Nah, kiddo,” Magnus moved a little, inviting him to sit beside him. “We and the Director have similar objectives, it’s just that her plan sucked balls-” 

Julia, who’d caught up to them, slapped him lightly on the head. “Language,” she admonished him, sitting cross-legged on the ground. “He’s a kid.” 

“Sorry,” Magnus smiled sheepishly. 

“If you want an honest answer,” Barry started, without raising his head from the work he was focused on, “you should start asking the right questions.”

“You’re the Red Robes.” Angus continued. “You created the Grand Relics, is that right?” 

“Yep.” Taako replied, popping the word.

“That about sums it,” Merle shrugged.

“We’re not proud of it, kid,” Barry added. “That much should be made clear.”

Angus sat down, beside Magnus and Julia, his hand on his chin as he was deeply lost in thought. “I think,” he spoke again, “I’ll try to decide on my own whether or not you’re the bad guys.” 

Taako smirked. “Smart kid.” 

Magnus fondly ruffled his hair.

\- 

_ From Angus McDonald’s Journal of Investigation. _

**_Investigation #45 : the case of the Red Robes._ **

**_Log #1_ **

 

  * __I’ve been kidnapped by the group of people identified by the name of Red Robes by the Bureau of Balance, more on that later. I am healthy and relatively free to leave whenever I want, but I_ _chose_ _to remain with them to investigate on their case.__


  * _Fact_ _provided by the Bureau of Balance: the Red Robes are a group of seven rogue wizards who created the Grand Relics. Partially inexact: Merle Highchurch is a cleric and Magnus Burnsides is not even a magic user. Validity of the information provided by the BoB is_ _compromised_ _._


  * _Members of the Red Robes (confirmed to be seven as per the number of Grand Relics):_


  * _Taako - elven, wizard - doesn’t have a court name or hides it for some reason_


  * _Merle Highchurch - dwarven, cleric of Pan_


  * _Magnus Burnsides - human, fighter -_ _not a magic user_


  * _Julia Burnsides - human, fighter - not an original member_


  * _Barry Bluejeans (confirmed nickname) - human, some kind of spellcaster_


  * _Three more members whose names and information I’m still investigating_



 

**_Log #2_ **

 

  * __It seems like they care about my wellbeing, but haven’t the slightest idea how to accommodate a child’s needs.__


  * _We started moving at dawn, leaving behind the Bureau’s sphere. They don’t seem too worried about being tracked (confident?). We gained the high ground and saw our objective, a mining town called Refuge; there seem to be complications._


  * _The city seems to be surrounded by a magical force field, the shape and configuration of the ground suggests a spherical shape. Magnus seems the most dejected. Theory: we’re looking for the relic he made._



 

\- 

“You know, you don’t need to investigate.” Barry said as he glanced at his notes. “You can just ask.” 

Angus closed the notebook instinctively. As they were walking, Magnus and his wife were faster, leading the group towards the dome, Merle trotted along right behind them, steady despite his short legs. Barry and Taako hung back somewhat, the latter mainly complaining about the heat - “We’re in the middle of winter! This temperature is illegal !” - while Barry approached Angus, who had slowed down in his attempt to write while walking. 

“If you answer my questions, I will only have your side of the story. Truth is singular, words are lies.” 

Barry shook his head, taken aback from this reply. “How old are you, again?” 

“Almost 11. I’m a growing boy.” 

Barry sighed. Angus knew what he was thinking about, that boys his age should be playing outside, reading fairy tales and going to school, not worry about the lies and deceptions of the adults. But then again, Angus was smart: he’d resolved his first murder case five years prior and never stopped looking for answers and unsolvable questions ever since. Angus was not like other kids his age, he enjoyed far more the company of adults and was always trying to prove himself he was their peer.

“I would like to ask you some questions, though.” Angus flipped open a new page of his notebook, scribbling Barry Bluejeans on top. 

Barry glanced at Taako, who made a gesture as if to say ‘you dug your own grave’. 

“Sure, go on.” Barry sighed. 

\- 

**_Log #3 - Barry Bluejeans_ **

_ [All information is to be considered biased and personally given by the investigated individual.] _

 

  * __55 years old (T: “not considering the journey”, B: “who’s considering the journey?!”)__


  * _he's a Sorcerer (with little fighting experience) - wouldn’t disclose the origin of his powers (T keeps mouthing something, but B interferes - T: “this dude multiclasses like craaaaaayzeeee”)_


  * _Cold skin even in this weather: Shadow Magic source?_


  * _School of magic specialization: Necromancy (what the fuck) - created the Grand Relic of Necromancy (not recovered yet)_


  * _He’s the designated keeper of the Director’s staff_


  * _Taako and he mentioned he can use something called a Paralyzing Touch, it’s not a spell I can seem to remember, what does it mean? I miss not having access to the library._



 

_ Information given by Barry Bluejeans about the Red Robes [I needed to be re-inoculated first to understand the following - T complained it was ‘the last dose’]:  _

 

  * __A group of scientists and explorers from another planet (ALIENS?!)__


  * _Group of seven total. One of them seems to be dead (term used ‘gone’) -Necromancy effort being made to recover her from Astral Plane, this feels highly illegal - another one of them referred often just as ‘Captain’, they don’t speak of the third._


  * _Confirmed: Magnus only one who’s never been a magic user (how did he make a Relic?)._



 

_ Information on Taako given by B and in smaller measure by T:  _

 

  * __Adult, so over 100, but younger than 150 years old (second mention of the journey) - younger than Merle (!)__


  * _Disconcertingly high level wizard (B: might have lost a few levels with the Wild Magic Surge) - mentioned he can cast lv9 spells_


  * _School of magic specialization: Transmutation (but he uses them all at will) - created the Grand Relic of Transmutation (recovered and destroyed/neutralized on Candlenights)_


  * _Has always been immune to the Voidfish?_



 

\- 

They reached the dome by midday, the sun pitilessly beating down on them, light shimmering across the silvery surface of the bubble. Magnus moved as close as possible and poked the bubble with his shield: the surface seemed to sag a little but didn’t break. 

“Hey, Mags? What is this?” Taako wondered, walking up to him.

“I don’t know.” 

“It doesn’t look like an abjuration spell, let me try something.” Taako started walking towards the bubble, but just when everybody else shouted “NO!” in unison, he disappeared. 

“Oh,” Barry sighed in relief. “Blink. Well, at least it didn’t explode in his face.” 

Taako reappeared not even two seconds later in the exact same spot, with a weird look on his face, pursed his lips and carefully stepped back. 

“What’s wrong?” Merle was the first to ask. 

“Was the barrier in the Ethereal Plane, too?” 

“Not there,” Taako said simply, his voice barely a whisper. 

“That’s good! Did you see the town on the other side?” Magnus walked up to him. 

Taako shook his head, he didn’t look well. Maybe it was still early after the outburst to try lv3 spells. “It’s not the barrier that was gone.” He took a deep breath. “Instead of the town, in the ethereal plane there’s just a huge sphere of Not There , nothingness, nada de nada, nil!” 

Barry looked at the barrier, vagues shapes distorted by it. “Well,” he sighed, “this looks bad.”


	28. thereby hangs a tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe. And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot; and thereby hangs a tale._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2 Scene 7_

They camped again, after circling completely around the dome, despite the merciless sun still high in the sky. The most peculiar find was a house, or rather, a part of an old farmhouse, partially incorporated in the bubble, standing in the middle of what looked like an old abandoned and burned wheat field. 

Magnus was understandably the most on edge, he really thought this was going to be simple, but now he knew that there were at least two people he cared about trapped inside the unbreakable bubble. 

“So what do we do?” Merle addressed the elephant in the room, as they finished setting up camp, large leaves shielding them from the sun and the heat. 

“There’s not much we can do,” Taako shrugged, “town’s not there, but it doesn’t look like the Cup’s work. Maybe we should look elsewhere?” 

“No way! I have to know what happened to Jack and his daughter!” Magnus exclaimed, sitting with his hands clasped together. 

“Maybe…” Barry started slowly, after several minutes of silence, “we should ask for help.” 

“Yeah, that’s brilliant, Barry!” Merle scoffed. “We’re in the middle of the desert, also we kinda burned our connection to the Bureau.” 

“I wasn’t talking about the Bureau,” Barry sighed, “I’m talking about Kravitz.” 

Taako immediately perked up. 

“Who?” Merle frowned. 

“Kravitz,” Barry repeated, “the Grim Reaper fellow we met at Lucas’ lab? We did tell him we’d explain stuff. I suppose we actually can now.” 

“Oh, right!” Magnus exclaimed, “That makes sense! How many times did he say we died?” 

Julia choked while drinking some water, “You what?” 

“Eight!” Taako called, “By the way, do you know how to contact that hot piece of meat? Because I’d very much like to finish that one conversation I got too knocked out to finish!” 

“Oh, yeah, you were down for the count,” Barry realized. “He revoked the bounties on us for helping him with banishing the Legion, but we had to promise we’d explain - or rather, you ’d explain what was going on!” 

“Why me?” 

Barry glared at him. “Because at the time you were the only one who had the slightest clue?” 

Taako shrugged. “Fair, it’s fair…” he nodded, while Magnus started explaining Julia about the deaths and resets. 

“You guys know the Grim Reaper?” Angus exclaimed in wonder.

The rest the group turned towards him in mild shock. 

“You know, I honest to Pan forgot the kid was still around,” Merle guffawed. 

\- 

Johann was having a stressful time. 

Killian had called everyone in the Bureau, exposing Lucretia’s collected relics and revealing her former association with the Red Robes. She had taken the position of Director herself and started forming a team to hunt down the former Reclaimers, while Lucretia and Davenport were thrown into the brig. 

The worst thing, Johann realized, as he helped fix the Voidfish’s tank, is that he didn’t even feel bad about Madam Director. He got it, she did some bad stuff, hid several things she shouldn’t have and put her trust in the wrong people, letting them destroy everything she worked for. The worst thing was that he felt the same way: he wanted to know the truth, but when they left without him he realized he’d just been  _ used _ . 

These were the reasons that pushed him to volunteer for Killian’s recovery mission. 

“Do- do you have any fighting abilities, Johann?” Carey asked, in confusion and concern. 

“Not really,” he shrugged, “but I can do support. My level’s not that high but I do magic.” 

Carey turned around to look at Killian who, sitting in the Director’s chair, tapping her fingers on the armrest, seemed to muse on the situation. 

“Johann,” she said in the end. “Don’t get killed.” 

“I’ll do my best.” 

\- 

A huge black crow landed in the circle of feathers Barry made on the ground. 

“I wish to speak to Kravitz.” The man simply said, offering the crow a cypress twig. The bird gracefully took it in its mouth and flew away, disappearing after a few seconds. 

The group was in tense silence for a good minute, before the air in front of them seemed to rip open as a black blade sliced through it. The fissure opened in an almond shape and Kravitz stepped through, scythe in hand, feathery cape flowing behind him. Barry stepped back. 

“Well, 'asn't it been awhile?” he smirked, looking at the astonished faces around him, he dropped the scythe and the weapon evaporated into smoke before it fell to the ground. 

“I-” Barry nervously cleared his throat, “I didn’t expect you to appear in the flesh -  _ I didn’t even know you had flesh _ \- last time-” 

Taako launched himself forward, slinging an arm around Barry’s shoulders, protectively pushing him back . “Nah, it’s ok. It’s fine, this is better, how are you doing, handsome?” He grinned. 

“I’m-” Kravitz blushed, “I'm fine. You look better than da last time I saw you-” 

“Why the fake accent?” Angus stepped forward, curiously. Taako snorted. 

“I’m- it’s a work accent,” Kravitz frowned, trying to figure out why a kid was in front of him now. 

“It sounds ridiculous.” Angus nodded, before scribbling something in his notebook. 

Kravitz’s eye twitched. “Is there a reason you called me 'ere? Are you gonna explain yaaah-   _ that's not supposed to be there _ .” He dropped the accent all of sudden, seemingly acknowledging only in that moment the dome they were standing right next to. 

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Magnus pointed at it. “You know what that is?” 

With a flick of his wrist, Kravitz resummoned his scythe and strode towards the bubble.

“Hot,” Taako commented. 

“Can you not?” Barry hissed, elbowing Taako while he kept an eye on each of the Reaper’s movements. 

With a precise blow, Kravitz sliced down the barrier, exposing a bright light and for a moment a sound like a distant explosion came through. The holes remained open only for a fraction of a second though, before snapping itself close. “Uh. Thought so.” Kravitz resummoned the projection of the Book of Souls with his free hand and started browsing through it. 

“What is it?” Magnus insisted. 

Kravitz sighed, then turned around, cape flowing dramatically around him. “Merle,” he clapped his hands together, dismissing both book and scythe. “You remember I called you me 'ighest bounty?” 

“Yes?” Merle stepped slightly back. 

“That...wasn’t da absolute truth. You see, all of me 'ighest bounties, beside the occasional lich.…” 

Everyone’s eyes darted at Barry, who hiccuped and stepped behind Taako. Kravitz didn’t seem to notice the movement, because he turned around, facing the dome again. 

“...are all in this tiny little town called Refuge. The Raven Queen told me to ignore 'em, as they were ‘taken from her jurisdiction’ an' I never investigated, but this is what was keepin' them 'idden, apparently.” 

“Wait so,” Magnus paled, “people inside there have a death count higher than us?” 

“Indeed. And it’s increasin' by the hour.” 

“And you can’t get in?” 

Kravitz sighed. “That’s the issue. My scythe can cut through the boundaries that separate planes, but this is a demiplane warded against teleportation an' planar travel..” 

“A demiplane!” Barry realized, and started muttering something to himself. 

“That your cup of tea, Barold?” 

“Conjuration. Not really but...” He muttered. “I wonder if a Plane Shift would work? We’d need a magic item attuned to something inside the-” he stopped, staring at the staff he was holding, “...dome…” 

“The Light of Creation!” Merle, Taako and Magnus exclaimed in unison, smiling. 

“The what-a-what?!” Kravitz shook his head, taken aback. 

“My Cup is inside! It’s- it’s likely what’s generating the dome! We can use that spell thing focusing on the fragments of Light reaching out to each other!” Magnus continued, excited. 

Barry nodded enthusiastically. 

“Wait, I’m out.” Taako dejectedly raised an hand, gaining shocked looks. “I mean, Taako’s still an useless wizard here. I barely get 3rd level spells right and do you really want me next to another Relic after what happened with the last two?” 

Magnus seemed upset, but nodded. “I get it. You stay here and…” he looked at his wife, “you and Ango stay here too.”

“No way!” Julia exclaimed, unsheathing her shortsword. “I’m with you on this!”

“Yeah, she’s more capable than me for sure.” Taako said, Julia winked at him. “I’ll stay here and explain stuff to Krav and the kiddo…”

“It’s  _ Kravitz _ ,” the reaper corrected him. Taako waved him off. “But it sounds like a good compromise. I am due some explanation, after all.”


	29. chance may crown me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 3_

Magnus woke up first, prone and with the taste of dirt and sand in his mouth. He sat up spluttering and immediately checked on the rest of the group: Julia was also recovering a few feet away from him. “Are you all alright?”

“Shit, fuck!” 

Magnus turned around to a voice muttering this and a string of colorful imprecations. “You ok, Barry?” 

“I broke my glasses,” the man complained, holding them. One lens had fallen off and the other was thoroughly cracked. 

“Is it just me or is it even hotter now?” Merle groaned, standing on his feet, immediately taking off his jacket and tying it at his hips. 

“I guess we made it,” Julia announced, looking up. The bubble was all around them, opaque at the base, but growing more and more transparent as it stretched higher into the cloudless sky. It was possible to see the sun shining above them, but all around was nothing but a white shimmering wall. 

“Yay! Nice, Barry!” Magnus jumped up to pat his back. 

“Yeah, nice…” Barry commented, trying on the now-less-than-useful glasses, and then throwing them off a moment later, as they brought more harm than good.

The four of them were standing next to the same farmhouse they’d seen before, the one cut by the barrier, except the part inside of the barrier looked newer and more well-kept. The surrounding fields were green, with several people working around them. 

“So there’s people…” Julia noted, with a sigh of relief. 

“I can’t see shit.” Barry squinted his eyes. 

“Hey, what do you think was up with that old woman in the white space?” Magnus wondered. “You saw her too, right?” 

As they were discussing and looking around, the farmers seemed to realize a small group of people had appeared beside the building and was now stopping to look and point at them. A man and a woman, both wearing purple kerchiefs over their mouths, ran towards them, the latter holding a pitchfork in their direction like a weapon. 

“Who are you? Did Roswell send you? Are you here to stop us?” 

Magnus immediately raised his hands. “We don’t know who this Roswell is, I’m a friend of Jack Lethbridge, we’ve come to see him!” he spoke for the group, as fast as he could. The pitchfork stopped just millimeters from his neck. 

The two aggressive farmers exchanged a glance, and the woman lowered the pitchfork. “Jack was our Elder, he sacrificed- ” she spit the word like she hated it, “himself to protect us from the world outside. He trapped us in here more like it.” 

Magnus’ face fell. “Sacrificed? He’s- gone?” 

“About a year and a half ago-” she continued.

“What about Ju-” 

“Hey, Donna!” the man interrupted her, “We don’t know if we can trust them or if they’re telling the truth!” 

“Well, what do you suggest?” Donna scoffed, holding more tightly her makeshift weapon. 

“What’s going on here?” a new voice interrupted them. The man, who’d just walked out of the house, looked even more harmless than Barry: dressed in humble clothes and with a big bushy beard. Magnus didn't voice this thought of his, but he looked like Klaarg if Klaarg had been a human instead of a bugbear. He looked very peaceful and huggable, and his mere presence put the group at ease. 

“Redmond! These people claim to have come from the outside to meet our previous Elder,” the woman explained. 

“Jack? Jack has been lost to the mines a year and a half ago.  _ Did you say _ outside?!” 

“Lost to the mine? Didn't he  _ sacrifice  _ or something?” Julia wondered, crossing her arms. 

The man sighed. “That's the story we-” he stopped suddenly, staring at Magnus for a long enough time to make him feel uncomfortable. 

“Something on my face?” 

“It can't be- are you The Visitor?!” 

“The Visitor?” Magnus repeated, in chorus with the rest of the group. 

“The man whom Jack and his daughter rescued, Sheriff Isaak insisted on making a statue of the three of them. That robe and build of yours-” 

Magnus frowned: Isaak was yet another familiar name, a friend of Jack if he remembered correctly. “Is this Sheriff Isaak still alive?” he interrupted Redmond.

“Wait, Magnus has a  _ statue _ of him?” Merle burst out, somewhat offended. 

\- 

“Any questions?” 

Angus stared, mouth slightly open. He’d stopped writing stuff down after the first 30 seconds, hypnotized by the tale of the Starblaster’s journey. Kravitz wasn’t in a much better position, his head was in his hands as he tried and failed to understand something completely outside of his sphere of knowledge. 

“This is the most unbelievable tale I’ve ever heard,” Kravitz groaned, he’d long since dropped the accent. “I think I need some time...” 

Taako shrugged, “Dude, the whole mortal world forgot the Relic Wars, isn’t that enough proof?” 

Kravitz glared at him and looked like he was going to say something, when a shimmer caught his eye. He stood up, looking at the sky as a light flew in their direction. 

“Oh, fuck,” Taako stood up too, realizing what the approaching light was. He protectively stepped in front of Angus, grabbing the Umbrastaff’s handle. 

The Bureau’s transportation sphere landed a few yards away from them, landing with unnatural precision and raising a cloud of dust. 

“How did they find us? I thought Barry had hidden our Bracers’ signature!” Angus exclaimed. As the dust settled, Taako raised the Umbrastaff, pointing it at the sphere. 

“I cannot interfere.” Kravitz made clear. 

“I know,” Taako nodded, moving forward, “keep an eye on the brat.”

“I  _ just _ said-” 

The sphere’s door opened and two guards in white and blue armor stepped out: it was the same two who used to stand in front of the Director’s office. 

“Former Lead Reclaimer and Red Robe, you are under arrest for damaging the Bureau of Balance headquarters, breaking into the brig, aiding the escape of your associate, assaulting the Director, kidnapping a child and aiding in stealing the Grand Relic of Abjuration,” the orc guard listed, like he’d learned the spiel by heart. “Come with us or we’ll be forced to restrain you.” 

Taako whistled. “That-” he chuckled, “that is an impressive list of crimes, damn! It rivals my time on Cycle 90!” He said jovially, but didn’t move an inch. 

The guards exchanged a look. 

“As you predicted, he refuses to come, Madam Director.” 

Taako perked up, Lucretia came in person? He didn’t think she had it in her. When the guards parted, though, the woman who came out of the sphere wasn’t Lucretia, but Killian, wearing full armor and wielding on her hand the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. Taako narrowed his eyes,  _ so Lucretia hadn’t destroyed it _ , this was bad. 

“Well, well,” Taako forced himself to keep smiling, “has there been a change in management?” 

Killian gritted her teeth, looking around like a predator following a trail. “Lucretia proved herself to be unfit for the role of Director. Where is the rest of the group?” 

Taako shrugged. “Beats me.” 

Killian frowned. Her eyes moved to Angus, a few steps behind. “Angus, are you alright? Come quickly!” She called, apparently ignoring Kravitz. Was he invisible to her or something? 

“I’m fine,” Angus said calmly, standing straight beside Taako, “but I’ll stay exactly where I am, thank you!” 

The woman gritted her teeth, glaring at Taako. “Have you fucking charmed him, you asshole? You finally showed your true colors...” 

“True colors?” with his free hand, Taako lifted the robe he was still wearing as a mantle, “This thing? Actually my color is more like a mauve-”

Kravitz chuckled. 

“Shut up!” Killian growled. Neither she or the guards seemed to see Kravitz or acknowledge his existence. “Last chance! Where’s the rest of your group?” 

“Dunno,” Taako shrugged.

Killian raised the hand wielding the gauntlet. A bolt of fire flew straight at Taako, who stepped aside just in time but was still lightly burned on the shoulder. With a grimace, he pointed the Umbrastaff and shot three Magic Missiles, that Killian avoided easily.

“You  _ really _ shouldn’t use that thing,” Taako cocked his head to the side, his smile turning outright hostile. He tried to summon Garyl to keep her at bay, but instead what appeared was some kind of green blob. “Oh,  _ come on, _ this is not the time!” he banged the Umbrastaff on his head. 

In his brief moment of distraction, he missed the guards sprinting forward, one of them grabbing Angus, despite the boy’s protests, and the other tackling Taako to the ground. Even without True Sight, the wizard recognized the shimmering light of a strengthening spell around the two and looked around until his eyes settled on Johann, still standing by the sphere, nervously holding a lyre. 

“Johann? The fuck?!” Taako cried. “I thought we were buds!” 

“You used me!” Johan replied, grim. “You ordered me around and never explained anything! Exactly like Ma- the former Madam Director! I’m tired!” 

Taako stared in disbelief while the guard forced him back on his feet and ripped the Umbrastaff out of his hands. 

“Let that go!” Taako growled, lunging towards the guard holding the Umbrella. “Give it back!” his voice raised in pitch as the stone and gravel around his feet started rising from the ground, forming a small twister around him. 

“No, sir! Stop!” Angus exclaimed, realizing what was going to happen. 

“Shit!” Killian stepped back. “Knock him out! Knock him out!” she screamed, in a shrill tone. 

Taako closed his eyes, his features relaxed despite the storm starting all around him, and when he spoke he spoke softly but his voice echoed weirdly, getting to everyone’s ears. 

“Lｅｔ Ԍｏ Of Me” 

The guard who was holding him started screaming. 

\- 

Cycles. 

One hour long cycles, repeating, always bringing them to that very same point at the farm at 11am. The inhabitants of the town always repeating the same questions, the same actions. 

It was driving them insane. Cycles and resets were bearable for three of them, but it was starting to weight on Julia’s mind, who wasn’t used to dying and resurrecting so often. 

There was something in the bank vault, that was certain: the witch Paloma confirmed it, but every time they went there, the place went up in flames or something else stopped them. There was also something in the quarry and under the ground, that made the city explode at the end of every cycle. One hour was never enough to stop it. 

Or their fourth cycle, they finally resolved to rob the bank. A criminal record wasn’t permanent if time reset, right? Roswell, the deputy golem, attacked Magnus as they attempted to get people out, and the bars sealing the vault area came down from the ceiling, double sealing their objective away. 

Magnus and Merle were trying to keep the golem at bay while Julia had managed to slip past the bars that descended between the foyer and the vault door and was trying to find a way to open it. Barry was standing next to her, on the other side of the bars, reviewing the last few minutes in his mind, trying to memorize the sequence of events to have a better chance of getting in during the next cycle. This time, it was already impossible to avoid the collapse before the reset... 

The Reset. 

“I’m an idiot!” he screamed, suddenly, making Julia jolt. 

“I’m not in the situation to give you moral support, Barold!” Magnus shouted back, just as Merle healed him from a slash across his chest Roswell’s weapon inflicted on him. 

Barry turned around, looking at his friends with his hands shaking. “I need to know,” he started, “do you trust me?” 

“What? Yeah!” Magnus answered without missing a beat. 

“Oh, for Pan’s sake, of course we trust you, kid!” Merle laughed despite the situation.

“We trust you, Barry,” Julia approached him from the other side of the bars. “What do you have in mind?”

Barry looked at Julia with a grimace of fear and nervousness, before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Blood pumping heavily he could almost  _ hear _ it, Barry spoke softly a short incantation and closed his eyes as he felt his heart stop and the world go dark.

And then bright,  _ finally _ in focus.

Oh, he forgot how  _ liberating _ dying was. As his spectral form rose from his crumpled body, he saw everyone in the room stop, including the golem: the crimson bird perched on their shoulder ruffling his feathers. Barry turned around, flying  _ through _ the vault door and into a dark room filled with diamonds and other possessions, scanning it quickly until they landed on a sealed journal with the name  _ Isaak _ written in black ink on the front.

_ That was it. _ He moved to grabbed it but his hand passed right through it. Muttering a string of curses, he cast Chill Touch to be able to break the seal and open the diary. Scanning through the pages as quick as possible, he finally reached the last page with words on it.

It shed a light on the nature of the bubble and how it came to be, but more importantly, it told him  _ where the Cup was _ ! Oh, they’d been so close! Barry flew back out of the vault ready to announce his discovery, when his eyes landed on Julia, standing as far away from the vault as possible, staring at him  _ absolutely terrified _ .

“Oh,” was all that Barry could say.

“Oh, no, no, Jules,” Magnus threw himself against the bars. “It’s Barry, it’s still Barry- it’s a long story…”

Exploiting his distraction, Roswell struck Magnus on his back. Julia screamed her husband’s name, while Barry raised a hand to avenge his friend’s - even if temporary - death. As he prepared to disintegrate the golem, though, the last word in the journal echoed in his mind.

“Junebug.”

The golem straightened up, the bird cocked its head curiously, feathers no longer ruffled in fear. “What would you like me to do?”

Before Barry could speak again, the clock struck 12. The ground swelled and burned. Rather than watching the rest of his friends die, Barry flew towards the sky, watching from above the entire town being destroyed. And a giant long shape, longer and wider than a train, emerge in coils from the ground.

“Well, we’re fucked.”

And then everything was still, for a moment, only fire and dust in place of the town, the giant purple worm frozen in place while slamming its body against the barrier with useless fury.

The next moment Barry was back in his body, mouth full of dust and eyes that refused to focus, his senses overwhelming him for a moment before he realized the other three were looking at him.

“So,” he cleared his throat, tossing aside the broken glasses, “long story short, I’m not  _ exactly  _ alive...” 

\- 

Kravitz struggled to understand what was going on. The guard’s scream of agony pierced the air under their horrified stares and he disintegrated so quickly that his soul stood there, looking around in confusion, trying to grasp the wizard who was now at the center of some kind of magical hurricane, before being swept away through a spontaneous rift to the Astral Plane. 

The orc woman shot a fireball that got pushed aside by the strong current and inglobated in the hurricane, and stepped quickly back towards the sphere. 

The guard holding Angus followed her, but Angus quickly used a Mage Hand to gouge his eyes. More surprised than hurt, he let go of the boy, who bolted back towards Kravitz and the camp. Killian looked at the guard, hesitant to follow, and shouted an order: he ran towards the sphere, that lifted off the ground and flew upwards. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Kraviz asked Angus when he reached him, shouting to be heard over the storm. 

“I- I don’t know! But this happened before! He was in the hospital when I-” he got interrupted by another bolt of energy striking the ground beside them. “P- please, help him…” he pleaded.

Kravitz grimaced. This was not his business or role, he was never meant to aid or interfere in the mortals’ affairs. He hesitantly stepped forward when he noticed the crow standing on a shaking tree branch. The crow looked back at him and nodded slowly before disappearing. 

“Very well,” Kravitz nodded, switching to his skeletal form and stepping forward, into the storm. Kravitz was not alive, he was able to avoid most injuries, and yet the contact with the uncontrollable magic hurt him to the core. Kravitz staggered but pushed forward until he reached the center. The storm looked familiar and it unnerved him, because he couldn’t explain how, he couldn’t recall where he’d seen such a display of loose energy before.

Taako was standing in the middle of the storm, shoulders tense, hands crossed and gripping his upper arms, eyes closed and breathing uneven. When Kravitz walked up to him, he slowly opened his eyes to look up. 

“You have to stop this!” Kravitz exclaimed, “Whatever you’re doing! They’re gone, the kid is safe!” 

Taako smiled painfully. “I- I don’t think I-” he croaked, before his face contorted in pain and he fell to his knees, the storm decreasing in intensity. 

Kravitz looked around as the wind settled, rubble settling back on the ground, pieces of contorted armor clanking and falling on top of each other. 

Just as the storm settled completely and Taako slumped, falling in Kravitz’s arms, a sound like broken glass permeated the air and not to far away, a small shape, followed by a  _ huge  _ shape, flew out of the dome. The purple worm, growling in the distance, buried himself in the ground and disappeared. Four shapes came running back towards the camp. 

“That was quick?” Kravitz commented as he recognized the four that had disappeared less than an hour earlier. 

“What happened here?” Merle looked around the camp in shambles. 

“Oh, no. Oh,  _ no, no, no- _ ” Barry immediately realized the situation and ran towards Kravitz and Taako, lying in his lap, completely motionless and with his eyes half opened. 

“Is he-?” Magnus’ features contorted in horror, gripping something tightly in his hands that looked like a golden and jeweled chalice. 

“He’s still alive,” Barry confirmed immediately, checking the elf’s heartbeat. He didn’t seem relieved. “What happened?” 

Angus stepped forward and told them about the Bureau’s swift attack, Killian’s new position and how Taako had lost it when the Umbrastaff was taken from him. Barry stood up, grabbing the umbrella that was lying on the ground a few feet away and holding it protectively to his chest. “Tell me that you stopped him,” he spoke weakly but alarmed. “Tell me you knocked him out before…” 

“He stopped on his own,” Kravitz said. Barry’s fear was palpable as he was instantly back at Taako’s side. “That’s...bad?” 

“No...no, no, no . Hey, Taako? You know you can hear me, hold on, ok? I’ll- I’ll take care-” his voice broke. With a sigh, he cast Sleep once again, but from his expression it was clear that it was too late. 

“Just what the hell is going on? Is he gonna make it?” Julia stepped forward. 

“He- I don’t know.” Barry was starting to cry in panic. “This is bad, this is why I cast Sleep when he had an episode the last time. He started fueling his spells with his life force instead of arcane power and now that same arcane power is binding into-” 

“No, wait, hold on, hold on,” Magnus interrupted him. “Explain with simple words.” 

Barry stood up, trying to regain composure. “Imagine a- imagine your puzzle, your wooden puzzle you made for Candlenights.” 

Magnus nodded.

“It was two different pieces of wood, embedded into each other but still separate, still two pieces you could part,” he hold out both hands together with his fingers crossed.

Magnus nodded again. Kravitz had a feeling he knew where this was going and he didn’t like it one bit . 

“Now,” Barry took a deep breath. “These pieces are Living Essence and Magical Essence - or Arcane Power - they make an individual soul and are the foundation of every living being.” He turned around to glance at Taako. “When he used the Philosopher's Stone, a Relic  _ perfectly  _ attuned to his magic but still too powerful for him to wield, this foundation was shattered.” 

“Oh, shit,” Kravitz tensed. He could see it now, what had unnerved him earlier: Taako’s soul, brilliant, bright, even brighter than when he met him in the lab, was  _ warping _ , leaking energy, deforming into something Kravitz  _ knew _ was deeply  _ wrong _ and unstable. 

“Wait, what?” Magnus frowned, still confused. 

“Back to the puzzle, imagine if it was made of metal instead of wood. Using the Philosopher’s Stone was like...putting it on top of a very hot furnace.” 

Magnus paled instantly. “Wait, isn’t that- what does it mean?”

Barry was positively crying now. He pointed at Taako. “It means, his Living Essence and Magical Essence are fusing together and if he dies now we’re all in deep shit because that’s how  _ insane  _ liches are born.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chuckles in a corner*
> 
>  
> 
> *runs away* It’s a feel good fiiiiiiiicccc…
> 
>   
>  *runs back* SCREAMING!  _CONTEST_ !  _NOW_ !


	30. rise by sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Well, heaven forgive him! and forgive us all! Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall, some run from brakes of ice, and answer none, and some condemned for a fault alone._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 2 Scene 1_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **[TW: coercion, poisoning, first person description of death, vomiting]**

The Goddess Istus was troubled: that loose pick, the unexpected deviation many years in the past, had brought chaotic changes and a snowball effect she struggled to keep under control. The fabric she was weaving bifurcated when the four adventurers - soon to be her Emissaries - appeared in front of her. 

She gave them gifts to break the bubble and to aid them in the foreseeable future and sent them their way, trusting in their judgment. 

They found the Cup: it spoke to them under June's guise, it showed them their past, their biggest regrets, all way back to the moment they left their homeworld. It showed Julia a chance to leave with her mother and brother and save them from a horrible fate. 

They all refused its offers. 

-

They got outside a moment too late, the bubble stoods in the middle of an ashen desert, the Woven Gulch was gone, a spectral figure in red crackling with power above them raised his hands and laid waste to the world. 

Magnus held the Cup and… 

\- 

They delayed their entrance in Refuge. Killian arrived and fought them, Taako stayed back, a wild firebolt centered Angus straight in the chest. Taako screamed, a storm kicked off. 

Magnus held the Cup and… 

\- 

In the fifth cycle, Barry realized he could fly through the earth as a lich and killed the purple worm. The loop broke but the barrier didn’t, the Cup and June forever unreachable and in sync, they were trapped for months until the Hunger came and destroyed the bubble.

Magnus grabbed the cup and…

-

They broke the loop and led the Purple Worm outside, but during the escape Julia hesitated to grab Barry's hand - she'd seen what he was, she did her best not to show it but she was afraid, so afraid. She fell into the beast’s mouth. Her body crushed like a twig. 

Magnus held the Cup and… 

\- 

The Goddess Istus was troubled: that loose pick, the unexpected deviation many years in the past, had brought chaotic changes and a snowball effect she struggled to keep under control. The fabric she was weaving bifurcated when the four adventurers - soon to be her Emissaries - appeared in front of her. 

They asked her why. 

“I'd love to say I trust you, but you've used the Cup already, and so many times.”

“Why?” Merle asked.

“I weave the story but I can't see where it is going.” She said, and Barry heard once more Buffin’s words. She too had spoken for Istus’ will, fate had always pushed them to that moment. “Fate and chance are not mutually exclusive, and alongside them exists free will.”

“If we can't trust our own judgement, how can we save this town?” Magnus asked. 

“I can tell you this.” She picks up one interrupted end. “A dear friend of yours is in trouble outside. You must not attempt to use the Cup to save him. Only then you'll be able to move forward.” 

She gave them gifts to break the bubble and to aid them in the foreseeable future and sent them their way, trusting in their judgment. 

They found the Cup: it spoke to them under June's guise, it showed them their past, their biggest regrets, all way back to the moment they left their homeworld. It showed Julia a chance to leave with her mother and brother and save them from a horrible fate. 

They all refused its offers.

Magnus held the Cup and stared down at his friend, his family, his brother,  _ dying  _ even under Barry's care and wished he could just go back and fix it, but the Goddess' voice resonated in his ear and he just gripped the metal as tight as he could. 

\- 

Several years passed in the matter of minutes and the bubble burst open. Everybody ran towards their saviors, celebrated the return of the Visitor and unveiled a statue of the four of them. 

Barry kept Taako asleep through magic, as they had him rest in a room of the Davy Lamp - the owner had offered them a free room the moments she recognized Taako from one of his shows. Barry took care of him through his slumber while making sure to absorb the Light of Creation into the staff. Without it, the Cup was a simple Divination item, it showed them anyone's present or past but was unable to change it, they used it to understand what happened outside the bubble and ultimately Magnus decided to leave it to the people of Refuge. 

At the end of the day, Barry had a solid idea on how to save Taako and  _ oh, how he hated it. _ He needed to talk to the rest of the group, and especially to Kravitz, who meanwhile had apparently received permission from the Raven Queen to aid them. 

And he feared their reaction. He feared that they'd approve, because Barry knew he had no right to make such a life-changing choice for Taako, especially when a there were a hundred thousands way it could go wrong. 

“Separating the two Essences is nearly impossible right now,” he announced, when he'd finally found the strength to gather and talk to the rest of the group. “And the conflict is tearing him up from inside. Elven bodies are overall more resistant to such effects but at this rate? He won’t make it to tomorrow morning.” 

Magnus looked devastated as he hugged Julia in an attempt not to cry. 

“If he dies with his soul in the state he is now-” Barry glanced at Kravitz, prompting him to finish for him. 

“Well, for one, the energy released would be enough to level this town,” the Reaper sighed, “if we're lucky he'll just disintegrate afterwards, if we're not, well… Bluejeans already explained.” He didn’t want to repeat it. 

“So what can we  _ do  _ exactly?” Merle insisted. Optimistic, stubborn and dense Merle was the only one who hadn’t given up. 

Barry sighed. “There's only one thing I could think of and even if it doesn’t work-” he took a deep breath, “the outcome won’t be much worse than if we don’t do anything.  _ But if it goes well _ he’s gonna be fine- well, kind of...” 

Kravitz tensed. “You can't possibly be suggesting that!” he said through his teeth. 

Barry nodded, as the others looked at him in mild confusion. 

“You do realize what I'll be forced to do if you turn him into a  _ lich _ , right?” Kravitz growled. 

Magnus’ mouth was hanging open in shock. Even Merle looked troubled. “Pan’s blessing, kid! Is this really the only thing you could think of?” he said, barely a whisper. 

“The Gods know of the menace descending on this Planar System now.” Barry retorted. “Even the Raven Queen and Kelemvor and all those who oversee the rules of life and death  _ can realize  _ that we are the only ones with enough knowledge and power to hope to stop it. If anyone of us dies- If Taako dies,” he pointed at the bed to enforce his words, “We. Are. Fucked,” he enunciated slowly. 

Kravitz narrowed his eyes. “Very well, I will not interfere.” He said, slowly. “But if anything goes wrong, if he loses his mind, if he becomes a danger to this plane, I'm bringing him to the Stockade.” 

Barry nodded and shook his hand. “Deal.”

“You’ll turn him into a lich? Into...something undead?” Julia’s whole body was shaking. “That’s- that’s horrible…” 

Barry winced, but nodded at her. “Yes, I- I’m sorry- it’s the only way I could think of-” 

“I find it very hard to approve, anyway,” the Reaper continued, “the Ceremony of Endless Night requires a  _ large _ sacrifice, it's the worst act of necromancy! It will taint his soul! You don't know if he'll still be Taako when he rises, liches are easily corrupted by the suffering of other-” 

Barry silenced him with a hand. “Ok, let me stop you there, I'm not gonna follow the classic Ceremony, but one I created myself both to avoid those repercussions and to avoid sacrificing anyone!” 

In any other moment, they would have found Kravitz’s astonished expression hilarious. 

“What the fuck ! A method you created-  _ who are you?! _ And how do you know it's gonna work?!”

“My name is Barry Bluejeans, I'm a necromancer. And I know it's gonna work because I've been a lich for more than 30 years.”

\- 

Taako had cast an Epic Spell exactly twice in his lifetime, or sum of lifetimes. The first, when escaping from the Hunger’s army, he had teleported a number of shadow beings into orbit. The strain and exhaustion killed him on the spot and he woke up standing on the deck of the Starblaster beside Lup, who’d proceeded to shout at him for half an hour.

The second time was right now. Epic Spells were a double edged blade - the one that popped into his mind especially so: it dealt a backlash damage even when cast under the right conditions. Taako was  _ not _ in the right conditions to cast it, he was sick, unprepared, he was alone and he was in danger and he didn’t fully realize what he’d just cast until the guard’s scream pierced through his ear. 

The wind kicked up and he realized once again his spell slots were being burned through, with him unable to exert any kind of control. Magic was flowing unhinged through his veins, shattering the world around him and  _ inside _ of him. The once perfect and elaborate crystal cathedral falling apart and melting, and in an attempt to keep itself together, turning into something  _ crooked _ and distorted and  _ wrong _ . 

When his spell slots were completely consumed, Taako foolishly thought the torture was gonna end, but the storm intensified instead, cruelly and constantly tearing energy from him. He saw Kravitz walk through the storm, begging him to stop. 

Something  _ ripped  _ inside of him and the only reason he didn’t scream in agony was that there was no air in his lungs. His very soul was being torn apart to fuel the spell, and as he fell he could only wish it would stop  _ please stop please stop please- _

He heard Barry’s voice. Caring, loving, badass Barry Bluejeans, the man who stole his sister’s heart and yet Taako was never able to hate. “...you can hear me, hold on, ok? I’ll- I’ll…” the voice drowned in the haze and the dull pain as he felt and welcomed a Sleep spell.

Taako dreamed, spikes of pain translating into flashes of color and sound, brief moments of awareness where he knew his friends were looking over him alternating with nightmares of shadows looming and seeping into his heart, freezing its beat, turning his blood cold and black and  _ still _ . 

At some point, in his delirium, he thought he heard Lup’s voice, screaming in protest. _ Let me out! Please, don’t do it! Please, Barry! Let me out! I’m here! Let me out! Don’t do it! He can’t-  _ She too was drowned and washed away by the waves of his incoherent dreams. 

He opened his eyes again in the middle of the night, the two moons - correction, the moon and the Bureau of Balance headquarters - shining in the clear winter sky. The first coherent thought he had was that he had left most of his wardrobe there. 

“Taako? Hey, there…” Barry’s voice said gently. 

Taako turned his head, there was a weird smoke around them and a smell of incense. Barry was missing his glasses and had a kerchief around his mouth. His eyes were red, like he’d been crying. 

“Hey…” Taako called, he wasn’t exactly in pain anymore, but everything felt muffled, his muscles sore. “Where the fuck are your glasses?” 

Barry chuckled meekly. “Breathe deeply, the herbs should help you keep the pain at bay. I need-” his voice cracked, “I need you awake for this. Listen to me.” 

Taako let Barry help him sit up against a slate. Barry’s hands were shaking. 

“Taako, I need you to focus, ok?” 

Taako nodded. “Ok?” 

“I need to focus on our Bonds, on the good memories we had. Uh, Julia’s birthday where I got drunk, all the times we had fun at the Bureau, the moment when you finally got us back, do you remember them?” 

Taako frowned. “What’s going on?” 

“Don’t focus on Lucretia, on Lup, don’t-” he groaned, his head in his hands, “I shouldn’t have said that, ugh- Focus on the good things, ok? Good things only? We can do this, we can still win.” 

Through the haze, Taako realize he was sitting on some kind of stone slab, the light of a town in the distance. Someone was standing not too far away, a figure in black looking at them without even blinking: Kravitz. 

“You focused?” 

Taako nodded, his eyes fixed on Kravitz, begging for an explanation he had no words to ask with for. 

Barry took a deep breath. “I need you to repeat  _ slowly _ this after me, don’t make mistakes.” 

It was an incantation in a language Taako didn’t recognize, Undercommon or Sylvan by the sounds. Barry guided him through, word by word, as Taako, more curious than obedient, repeated. With each sound, the runes carved in the slab lit up and started charging with some kind of power, humming through the air and manifesting in small lighting bolts that arched from one rune to the next.

As the hum intensified, a dull pain started rising from Taako’s chest. He almost stopped chanting the incantation, as he grimaced in pain, doubling forward, but Barry grabbed his face in his hands and with a panicked expression repeated the last sentence until Taako said it himself. As the spell ended, all runes were lit up and charged with a power that resonated with his own: his head and chest hurt like they were going to  _ explode _ and he clutched his head, bending forward with a wail of pain. Where was Barry? What had he done?

When Barry came back, Taako clutched tightly on his arm, nails digging in his flesh and he barely realized he was trying to make him  _ drink _ something from a rusty goblet. Taako swallowed the foul dark liquid inside and immediately tried to reel back, coughing and trying to push Barry away, but the man grabbed with decision the back of Taako’s head and pulled it back to make him swallow the rest of the potion.

When the goblet was empty, Barry finally let go and stepped back. Taako bent forward, gagging and convulsing as the  _ poison  _ started to worm its way into his system. A sharp pain in his stomach, like he’d been stabbed, preceded his heartbeat getting faster and irregular, his breathing becoming laboured, his lungs refusing to work properly. Dark spots were covering his vision when he looked up, unable to cry for help, unable to ask  _ why _ would Barry hurt him so much. 

Barry was crying, as he stepped back. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” 

The world spun, engulfed in pain rising from his head, from his heart, from his body and then- 

it stopped. 

After a very brief moment of darkness, Taako’s vision disfigured, as if he was looking through a fish-eye lens. As he straightened up, the world in front of his eyes stopped spinning and became  _ clear  _ and devoid of all colors, the noises of the night sharper, but the cold, the pressure and the pain, suddenly and inexplicably, were gone. He had no weight, no sensibility and the first coherent thought he was able to formulate was-

_ Oh. _

_ I’m dead. _

But his heart was still beating. Or rather, some kind of source of energy, cold and powerful, was pulsating at the center of his chest. He looked down, reaching for it and realized the arm clutching at his robe was skeletal and pitch black.

_ Lup? Lup, that was Lup? _

Panic rising, he managed to focus on the three shapes below. He recognized Barry and Kravitz looking at him in a mixture of dread and relief, but it took him a moment to focus on the shape pitifully curled up in fetal position at the center of a magic circle which runes were quickly losing power.

It was  _ Taako. _ He was looking down at  _ his own body. _

The runes were dim but the red bolts of lightning had intensified instead, and they came  _ from him _ crashing on the ground, leaving scorch marks on the stone.

“Something’s wrong!” Kravitz shouted when the wind picked up.

“Down!” Taako heard Barry scream and it felt like a Command, but the spell washed over him uselessly. More energy was now leaking, threatening to hit Barry and Taako’s own body and he tried to escape  _ away _ from them, higher, further away from the ritual site. 

A shadow flew towards him and for a moment he was enveloped by darkness and feathers, dragging him back against his will and pushing him into something  _ small and cramped _ , like a tailored suit you grew out of, a shape just about too  _ wrong _ to be comfortable.

And suddenly Taako could  _ feel _ again. 

He coughed, gasped for air, bolting up on his feet and stumbling back until he managed to lean against the rock he was settled against earlier. His stomach contorted and without a warning he threw up the foul black liquid he’d ingested early. 

He was sweating, shaking and overall shocked, but he felt lucid, awake. More importantly, the uneasiness he’d felt since Candlenights, the dull ache in his chest was gone, replaced by a cold and steady source of power that invigorated him and yet felt  _ so wrong. _

“What the fuck,” he glared at Barry, after taking a long, slow, deep breath, “have you done?” 

Kravitz was looking at them incredulously, when Barry rushed forwards and hugged him tightly.

-

In the middle of the night, from her cell deep in the Bureau, Lucretia woke up with a start. 

Bonds were a funny thing, unbreakable and connecting people even when everything came in the way of breaking them down. She woke up and instantly knew that  _ something  _ had happened to a member of her crew. 

She had to get out of there.


	31. base passions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Of all base passions, fear is most accursed._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 1, Act 5 Scene 2_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **[TW: panic attack, heavy dissociation]**

When Barry walked Taako back to Refuge, the elf was in a daze, still trying to make sense of confused feelings and fragmented memories. Had he been sick? Did Barry somehow cure him? There was a disgusting aftertaste in his mouth.  _ He saw Lup,  _ he heard her voice. Was that a dream? Where had Kravitz gone? Was he even there in the first place? Where was there?  _ Am I still dreaming? _

As the two of them finally entered the town, empty and silent in the dead of night, and stepped inside the Davy Lamp, a shadow loomed above them and all of a sudden Taako was being crushed in one of Magnus’ bear hugs. 

“Ugh, ribs-” he started complaining, but he realized soon that Magnus was crying, bawling like a child who’d just lost his dog. “What the fuck.” Taako deadpanned, taken aback by the weird scene. Magnus let him go, but kept both hands still on his shoulders, with snot and tears flowing down his face. Taako turned around towards Barry, demanding an explanation, but the latter shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze. 

“Maybe it's best if we move upstairs,” Barry said slowly. 

“Yeah, fuck, no. Explain.  _ Now. _ I'm kinda freaking out here!” Taako gestured at Magnus. 

Magnus sniffed, “Barry's right. The others are upstairs, but Ango is sleeping.”

Angus. Everything came back to him in a flash: Killian, the Umbrastaff, Angus and Kravitz. “Is Angus alright?” he asked, maybe more hurriedly than he meant. 

“Yeah, he's ok-” 

Taako quickly ran a check up on himself, hands patting to check on possible injuries but there were none. He felt  _ fine _ and somehow this made him even more nervous. He was still wearing the IPRE uniform, but his hat and the Umbrastaff were missing. “Where is Lup’s-” 

“The Umbrastaff is upstairs, in your room.” Barry sighed, pushing him and Magnus towards the stairs. 

Taako looked around as they went towards the rooms. The inn was empty but it was also night time, so no surprise there. The entire place was unfamiliar, and yet Barry mentioned ‘his room’ like he’d been there before.

“Is this Refuge? Did you break the barrier?”

Magnus nodded. “Recovered the Light and everything.”

“How long was I out?” he asked again, because he had to have been out of it even if he still didn’t realize  _ why. _

Inside the cramped single bedroom, sitting on a chair and gripping the fabric of her skirt tightly, was Julia. When the door opened, she jumped on her feet, smiling radiantly. “Taako!” she called, and  _ she stood exactly where she was. _

Taako frowned, a pang of uneasiness biting at the back of his mind, as Barry unceremoniously shoved Merle, who was snoring in the bed, down on the floor and awake. 

“Oh! Hey,” Merle waved awkwardly at them. “Welcome back!”

“Hey, Merle, what's going on here?” Taako asked, more hurriedly than he meant to. 

“Uhh-” Merle’s eyes darted to Barry. “Is he…?” 

“Yeah,” Barry sighed and pushed Taako to sit on the mattress. 

“Ok, I said I was freaking out before, downstairs,” Taako pointed with his finger to the ground, “I'm positively terrified now, you’re all acting weird,  _ what the fuck  _ is going on?” he screamed, his voice becoming shrill. 

Barry, realizing everyone was staring at him, took the chair Julia had been sitting in before and, turning it around, sat down to face Taako. He joined his palms and took a deep breath before speaking again. “You-” deep breath, “are a lich.”

Taako’s breathing started to stutter, deep breaths turning into small gasps. “What?” he tried to speak, but his voice was barely more than a strained whisper, uneven and broken.

Barry’s face contorted into a grimace of pained regret. “I turned you into a lich, I’m sorry, it was...”

Barry kept speaking, but his words lost any meaning in Taako’s ears, no more than background noise. Was he still dreaming? Where was Lup? Why were all those people cornering him?  _ Leave me alone _ .

“Barry, Barry, he’s not listening,” Merle’s voice cut through. The dwarf cautiously approached him, looking up at his face in concern.

“Ah, should I- should I repeat…?” Barry stuttered.

“I don’t know why you’d think I’m interested in whatever science babble you’re obsessed with,” Taako deadpanned, taking in air with quick uneven breaths and keeping his eyes fixed on a specific point on the wall.

“Yeah, no, I  _ need _ you to listen, please-” Barry lunged forward and grasped his shoulder before Merle could stop him. When Barry’s fingers closed on the fabric, the contact sent a jolt of adrenaline through Taako’s veins. Taako jerked away from Barry’s hand, crawling back on the mattress until his back hit painfully against the wall.

“Barry!” Merle admonished the man, who’d just raised his hands in a placating gesture.

Taako’s lungs were screaming for oxygen, no matter how fast he seemed to take in air, his whole body shivering violently when he realized Barry was trying to reach for him one more time.

_ He’s not listening _ , Merle said, but oh, he heard.  _ He heard. _

“What have you done?” There was a weird noise in the room, like the buzz of a thousands wasps, static in the air, prickling his skin. “What have you done to me?”

“Taako, I need you to calm down. If you don’t keep it under control-” Barry said, hurriedly and even more nervous than usual.

Taako forced himself to look up: there was something like a desperate urgency in Barry’s expression, Merle was frowning with deep concern, also leaning towards him. Magnus and Julia were standing as far away as possible, pressed against the wall and Julia was looking at him with- with-

fear.

_ Don’t look at me like that. _

With a full body shudder, Taako  _ felt  _ the release of arcane energy as a red arc of lightning flew out of him and hit the wall beside Magnus, Julia yelping in shock as she clung closer to her husband.

In surprise, Taako looked down at his hands, where more sparks were flowing and dancing down his arms and through his fingers. He clenched his fists, pulling his arms close to his body and bending over to try to keep it contained.

“No, no, no, bad id-” he heard Barry say before another bolt crackled through the air and almost hit him, grazing his side. Taako looked up in shock, staring at Barry reeling backwards and clutching his wound and started hyperventilating, grabbing his hair and curling up into a ball against the corner while several bolts of energy arched around around his body and burned the surrounding walls.

“ _ Out! Out!  _ Get out!” Barry shouted at Magnus and Julia, but Magnus shook his head and simply moved in front of his wife, spreading his arm to protect her. “Taako,  _ for fuck’s sake! _ ”

Barry started muttering an incantation, if he couldn’t get him to calm down, maybe he had no choice but  _ contain the damage _ until he did on his own. But before he could focus on a specific spell, Taako vanished in front of his eyes, along with the wild energy storm, leaving the scorched room empty and silent.

“What?” Julia asked, confused. 

Barry blinked and looked around, until he his gaze stopped on the opposite corner of the room and saw Merle's smokey figure sitting on the floor. 

_ Parlay. _

“I hope you know what you're doing,” Barry sighed, then slumped down in the chair and grabbed his head in his hands. 

And then a noise like cracking wood resonated in the room. Barry lifted his eyes and noticed the Umbrastaff: Lup's masterpiece had fallen from the hanger on top the bed and on the ground, when Barry moved to pick it up, he realized that a single crack had appeared in the handle. 

-

The room was gone and Taako welcomed the large empty space around him with a sigh of relief, even before focusing on his surroundings. He was standing a few feet above the cracked wooden floor of what looked like an abandoned theater’s stage, crimson curtains were in tatters and a massive pink tourmaline chandelier had crashed in the middle of the aisle between seats. The theatre was lit by no apparent light source and empty, save for a small figure sitting in the first row and calmly taking in his surroundings.

“Well, wow, don't you look spooky?” Merle laughed when he finally looked up and his eyes landed on Taako, without a sign of fear or uneasiness. “I have to say, this place feels very you.” 

Taako's eyes darted all around, trying to make sense of where he was and how he got there. 

“It's ok. It's the Parlay,” Merle explained, seeing his confusion. “Here you can scream and vent all you want without risking burning down the inn.” 

Taako followed Merle’s suggestion to the letter. The stage was set ablaze, then frozen, turned to gold and water and lava, but every time it turned back to his original shape. This continued for several hours until Taako was emotionally exhausted and collapsed on the stage. 

“You done?” 

Taako let out a long groan that was pretty much the parody of a scream. Merle chuckled and climbed up on the stage, laying down beside him. 

“Feeling better?” 

Taako lifted his hands and stared at them, skin and muscle almost translucent and bones as black as coal. He could feel his heart beating, he was  _ breathing _ , why did he look like that?  _ Fucking stupid Parlay. _ “Nope, I'm still freaked out,” he replied nervously, putting his hands down and instead focusing on the ceiling. “Can't scream anymore, though, it was getting tiring.” 

Merle sat up and looked at him raising an eyebrow. “Tiring how?” 

Taako hesitated to answer. “I can’t really explain it, but I’m not...” he took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’ll freak out again.”

“Good,” Merle smiled fondly, and laid back down. “Well, I can pull us out whenever you’re ready.”

“Not yet.”

“You wanna talk about something with Old Merle?”

Taako chuckled quietly. “Not really.” 

“Ok.” 

They stood in silence for a long time, there was no sound in the room, not even a drop of water or a creak of wood. It was weird but somehow also kinda calming. 

“Hey, Merle?” Taako broke the silence first. 

“Yes?” 

“Will you tell the others if I hug you?” 

Merle grinned. “Absolutely.” 

“Ok, first of all fuck you-!” 

\- 

The inn’s main hall was full of guests when Merle trotted back down the stairs. Magnus was the first to see him and ran towards him. 

“Are you ok?” he asked, concerned. 

“Of course!” Merle sounded somewhat offended. “You didn't really think he would hurt me?” He raised an eyebrow, judgmentally. 

“A little,” Magnus admitted. “It's not that I don't trust Taako but- he's not the most emotionally stable person, and this is an actual problem now!” 

Merle chuckled. “You know? He told me the exact same thing! Now, where's that Ren girl, I'm starving.” He moved towards the counter and spotted Angus, reading a book in front of an empty plate. “Hey, kiddo!” he called him, “Why don't you bring something to munch on to the boy upstairs?” 

Angus hesitated for a moment, then nodded and closed the book, heading with Merle towards the kitchen. 

-

It wasn’t the most comfortable bed he’d ever laid in, and it smelled a bit like charcoal after his outburst the night before, but  _ it was _ more comfortable than the floor of the Parlay space and definitely  _ warmer _ . After Merle left, he forced himself to take deep controlled breaths and fall into a state that wasn’t yet  _ trancing _ but allowed him to rest a little bit before he heard a shuffle and opened his eyes, realizing he wasn’t alone in the room anymore.

“Well, you're a sight for sore eyes,” Taako cracked a weak smile when he saw Kravitz quietly lift up the chair toppled by Barry earlier and sit in front of him. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked with genuine concern. 

“Uh,” Taako chuckled lightly, sitting up and wrapping the bed sheets around him. “Next question?”

Kravitz opened his mouth, closed it, frowned and averted his eyes. “You’re sad,” he said softly, cautiously. “You’re angry, you’re  _ afraid. _ Pretty understandable since...”

Taako frowned, clutching the fabric and reeling back slightly. “Why even ask, then…”

Kravitz looked up in surprise. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t- I didn’t mean- Sorry.” He shifted on the seat, trying to make himself smaller.

Taako smiled, looking at him curiously. Kravitz wasn’t accusatory or on edge, he was  _ awkward, _ it was weird but also somewhat  _ cute. _

“How did your Queen even allow something like this to happen?”

Kravitz’s head shot up. “I- Barry and I made a deal,” he said slowly. “I have a feeling there’s not gonna be any need for it, you’ve anchored yourself pretty well it seems.”

Taako looked around at the scorch marks. “It seems,” he repeated. “So you’ve come to check on me?” he smirked.

“I- yes- no, this isn’t work. I was just-”

“That explains why you dropped that forsaken accent,” Taako grinned, cocking his head while staring at him. An enforcer of the rules of life and death was not  _ allowed _ to be such a dork, dammit. “Were you worried?”

“A bit,” Kravitz admitted bluntly. “Although I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting such a  _ positive _ outcome!”

Taako shuddered.

“You and Bluejeans- the two of you are-“ Kravitz grinned, “honestly the most astonishing race I’ve ever seen!” He exclaimed, his expression betraying his excitement. “I've never witnessed such a clean Ritual, and looking at you now I wouldn't even guess that you're un-” 

Taako pulled up his legs and hugged his knees, burying his face in them. “Can we not talk about it?” 

He heard Kravitz sigh, walk up to him, and felt the hesitant touch of a warm hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I got carried away. I know he-  _ changed  _ you against your will, I know you’re scared and-” a small chuckle, “you’d be a fool not to be.” 

“I'm not like them,” Taako murmured, “I didn't want this, I can't do this. I can't keep it together forever, this is such bullshit!” 

“I get it, I really do,” Kravitz sat beside him on the mattress, “you're like me.”

Taako looked up. Kravitz wasn't looking at him, but at his own hands, joined together. 

“What?” 

Kravitz jolted, seemed to realize what he'd just said and shook his head. “Forget it,” he dismissed it. 

“No fucking way. I'm like you in what way exactly? You're a Reaper, you're like-” he paused, grinning at the irony, “my antithesis, I guess, now. Fuck. And I really thought I had a chance…” 

“A chance?” Kravitz raised an eyebrow. 

“To date the Grim Reaper.” Taako blurted out, before hiding his face again. “Forget it.” 

“Uh, uh- ok?!” Kravitz stammered, embarrassed. 

A knock on the door startled them. Kravitz stepped back. 

“Sir?” Angus’ tiny voice came from outside the door. “I've brought you some bre- lun- brunch. Can I come in?” 

Taako groaned, but still went to open the door, just a crack, to stare down at the kid. He didn't look frightened, fair enough. The way Julia had been looking at him was still impressed inside his eyelids. 

Angus was holding a tray with cooked eggs, buttery bread and slices of bacon in one plate and a slice of cake in the other. “Good morning, sir! Merle said you had a stressful night! You should put something in your stomach before you get some sleep.” 

Taako narrowed his eyes. “Hey, Agnes. You know what's going on, right?” 

“Absolutely. I know everything, I'm the world's greatest detective!” he exclaimed with a grin. “Also, I was in the next room over, so I heard all of it.” 

Taako rolled his eyes, opened the door and grabbed the tray from the kid's hands before going back inside and slamming the door shut. When he turned around, though, Kravitz was already gone. 

Welp, better eat the stuff before it went cold. 

\- 

Barry opened a large map of the coast on the table, in front of the rest of the group. The main hall of the Davy Lamp was full at lunchtime, but Ren graciously gave them a table in a corner of the room, out of hearing range. 

“The last fragment of the Light is contained inside the Grand Relic of Necromancy, my relic, the Animus Bell,” Barry explained. “I buried it in a chest in the sewer system of Neverwinter. Like with Magnus’, there is no record of it being used but due to its nature we can't be certain,” he sighed. “I say our first step should be looking in Neverwinter. Even if it's not there anymore, I can ask the Sterling family permission to enter the Great Library and look for information. We have a good relationship from when I was still teaching at...the...university…” Barry slowed down, staring at the counter. 

The others turned around to see Taako had descended the stairs and was now approaching the counter, smiling and holding the tray in one hand. Ren, who’d been collecting a few empty plates, stopped to grin at him.

The five of them stared as Taako seemed to act pretty normally, chatting amiably with the drow girl and conjuring a small pen to sign the counter, to Ren’s glee and joy. She pointed him at their table and quickly returned to the kitchen, humming contently. 

“Hello, sir!” Angus was the first to speak when Taako approached. “Was it good?” 

“Dry as fuck and too salty, but the cake wasn’t half bad and it got rid of that shitty aftertaste in my mouth,” he sit down between him and Magnus and crossed his arms and legs, staring intently at Barry. “How’s the burn?”

“What? Oh, I- uh- it’s good.” Barry stammered, clearing his throat nervously. “Much better. By the way, as I was saying, I've bought a wagon and two horses. We should be able to get to Neverwinter in a month so the sooner we leave the better,” he looked up.

“A month?” Taako frowned. “Can’t we like take a train or something?”

“Public transports and big cities will be under the eye of the Bureau.” Angus explained, Barry pointed at him and nodded. “We’re lucky they haven’t come back since they know we were here yesterday, I agree we should leave as soon as possible.”

“Yes, we’re leaving as soon as we’ve finished stocking water and food.” He rolled the map and put it back  in a leather container. 

“I’m gonna say goodbye to June, then,” Magnus announced, standing up to leave. “See you later!” He walked away, not before patting Taako’s back in support. Taako hunched his shoulders but didn’t shy away immediately. 

Julia followed her husband with her eyes and when he left she realized Taako had been staring at her. She awkwardly looked away. “Uhm, you look better.” 

Taako scoffed, “Girl, I always looked this good!” 

Julia chuckled, seemingly relaxing a little bit. She smiled fondly, but the distance between them remained, represented by the empty chair none of them dared to fill.

“Are you ok?” Barry raised an eyebrow, catching their attention. “I’m glad to see you up and about, but you should rest-”

“Yeah, kid,” Merle said, not looking at him but frowning in concern. “You had a stressful night, don’t push yourself.” 

Taako scoffed. “What can you say? Taako's a natural!” he grinned, but his hands were shaking. When he realized it, he hid them under the table, his smile faltering. 

Barry frowned, sighed and sat down. “Look, I'm sorry.” He lowered his voice. “You were dying, Taako. You were already turning into...something dangerous. I forced you to perform the Ceremony of Endless Night because that was the only way I could think of to fix it.” 

Taako shook his head, confused _. _ “I was turning...what the fuck do you mean?” 

Barry explained. He didn't need to use the wooden puzzle analogy, since Taako knew about the foundations of Arcana, but he told it anyway, to better explain how severe the situation had been. He told him of the agreement he struck with Kravitz, that he would bring him to the Stockade if anything went wrong and that he would allow him to live as long as Taako showed enough self control. 

By the time he finished talking, Taako was tiredly rubbing his eyes. “I get it,” he groaned, “I'll never be ok with this, but I get it.” 

Barry’s shoulders relaxed as a wave of relief washed over him. “I mean, a little really changed. You're still  _ you  _ and as long as you inhabit your body there's hardly a chance you'll lose control-” 

“Don't!” Taako snapped, waving a hand in his face to shut him up. “Don't try to sweeten the pot,  _ Barry. _ I  _ permanently  _ fucked myself up, you did your best to fix it, I’ll have to live with it. Something else I should know?”

Barry smiled, “Yes, actually, but-“ he looked around at the tavern patrons. “Maybe we can go somewhere more private?” 

“The forest?” Julia tried, “Paloma did say she was interested in meeting him.” 

Taako blinked. “What the fuck is a Paloma?”


	32. what's given freely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You pay a great deal too dear for what’s given freely._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, A Winter’s Tale, Act 1 Scene 1_

“...neutral magic will default to necrotic. If you attempt to cast Mage Hand, you’ll have a Chill Touch. Magic Missiles will inflict necro damage, too.” 

Taako threw back his head, groaning in annoyance and pulling the hat’s rim over his eyes.

“You asked for information!” Barry chuckled at his reaction.

“ _ Yeah, _ well, I didn’t ask for a lecture!” Taako retorted.

Barry was having too much fun for how grim the situation was. “Lemme think...True Seeing won’t reveal you, unless someone knows what they’re looking for. Detect Undead enchantments  _ definitely _ will! We count as undead even if we inhabit living bodies.”

Taako nodded, without really listening to Barry’s ramble.

“A Paladin’s Divine Sense could make them wary of you- Oh and stay out of Zone of Truths.” 

Merle made a complaining noise.

“Not just because of the truth thing,” Barry said slowly, he knew very well of Merle’s obsession with the spell. “Divine powers sting,” he said, grimacing. 

Taako fumbled for a moment with the hat, but when he processed the information he stopped walking to stare at Barry. “Wait, what?” 

“Yeah,” Barry dragged out, hunching his shoulders. “Positive energy  _ doesn’t really agree _ with us…”

Taako gaped as he took in the meaning of those words. “Are you fucking telling me Merle can’t heal me?” He didn’t know whether to be pissed or scared anymore. “Me, a  _ fricking  _ wizard?!” 

“Well, there’s some spells that can heal you, necromancy and transmutation based mostly,” he pointed at himself and Taako consecutively. “It’s really just a matter of  _ being more careful _ on the battlefield.”

“Gods fucking dammit-” Taako went to pull down the rim of his hat again, taking deep, steady breaths. “What spells?”

“Oh, uh- let me see…” Barry rubbed his chin. “Life Transference and Enervate are two sides of the same coin, I’ll teach you the latter as soon as possible- it doubles as damage and healing spell, it’s very handy!”

“ _ Noted _ ,” Taako grumbled, not a little bit excited.

“There’s a transmutation spell called Regenerate that can be cast without divine intervention, do you know it?”

“I know  _ of _ it,” Taako nodded as they started to walk through the woods again. “It’s not a fucking wizard spell, Barold.”

“It’s not-” Barry rolled his eyes. “Taako, this isn’t the time to worry about multiclassing you damn  _ purist.  _ I’m trying to keep you alive-”

Taako didn’t reply, but a small series of sparks danced on his fingertips before he could hide his hands in the robe’s pockets.

Barry backed away. “Sorry, I- it’s been a stressful couple of days-”

“It’s fine,” Taako said quietly. “I’m fine.”

Nobody believed that.

“It’s just that- it’s a lot of stuff, Barold. I already forgot the first things you said...” 

Angus, like he’d done since the beginning of the discussion, continued scribbling in his notebook. The amount of information he was getting rivaled any book or library he ever had access too. “No problem, sir! I’ve got it all written down!” 

“Aw!” Merle laughed, “you’ve got a tiny little secretary, now.” 

Angus made a face at Merle, as the same time that Taako muttered “’s not a secretary.” 

“In any case, you need to control that power of yours. Lup had the same issues for the first months or so- sparks are better than fire I guess.”

Taako blinked. “She did?” He looked up in surprise.

Barry smiled sheepishly. “She did her best to hide it from you, but it took her a few days to stabilize completely.”

It wasn’t great to learn Lup had been  _ hiding _ something like this, but it was somewhat reassuring to know she had gone through similar issues. Taako smiled a little, then tensed up. “Speaking of Lup, where’s the Umbrastaff?” He asked in a panic. “It wasn’t in my room when I came back from the Parlay!”

“I’ve got it here,” Barry lifted an arm to extract a long object wrapped in fabric from a holster he was wearing under the robe. “I don’t know how, but the handle cracked suddenly.” 

“Let me see,” Taako was by his side in an instant, unwrapping the umbrella. He grimaced when he saw the long fissure in the handle, tracing it with a finger. “Did I- did I do this?” he asked quietly.

Barry frowned. “Don’t think so. Lup made it after we turned, it’s built to put up with the kind of power she- you- we house. If you want it back, I think it’s ok but I want to try to fix it.” 

Taako held the Umbrastaff to his chest, eyes low, and didn’t say another word..

“Guys?” Merle called from ahead - he’d continued walking while the two of them stayed behind to talk. “We’re here.” 

\- 

Lucretia could barely contain her hysteria when the slice of pie the guard handed her for lunch turned out to contain the key for her cell. 

The guard looked at her sadly from behind the bars. It was the same orc who used to guard the door to her office. 

“I’m glad but- why?” 

“Not everyone of us approves of Killian’s methods, Madame Director ,” he said gravelly. “She rushed into battle and her anger put an end to Scott’s life.” 

The woman raised a hand on her mouth. “He died? How?” 

“The wizard killed him, he- didn’t look...in control, despite everything Killian says.” 

Lucretia frowned. If they’d pushed him into battle in the state he was still, no wonder he became dangerous, he was when he stormed into her office for the first time. Taako wasn’t like Lup, Taako would definitely kill to get himself out of a dangerous situation, but to kill in cold blood and unnecessarily wasn’t his MO. She’d felt her heart ache the other night,  _ something had happened, _ and it filled her with dread. 

“I need to get to them.” She decided, no matter how close they were to the end of the world, she couldn’t bear to die alone. 

“Davenport?” the gnome approached her, seeing her distress. 

Lucretia looked at him, “But first, I’ll need something from my office.” It was time to pull Davenport out of blissful ignorance, besides she needed him if she wanted to-

“I think I can get you there, but how do you plan on escaping? Security on the spheres is very high now.” 

“Oh, I don’t need spheres,” she smirked. “I’ve got a ship.” 

\- 

The hut they just stepped into was nothing special from outside, but dozens of crystal droplets hanged from the ceiling, catching the light like a rainstorm frozen in time. Angus looked around, mouth open in marvel, while Taako immediately proceeded to push a couple of droplet to make them clink against each other, marvelled by the show of refracted lights they produced. 

“Hello, Paloma!” Julia walked forward first and towards a small old woman holding a bowl of fresh cookies. 

“Hello, Julia. You all, welcome, take a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute,” she waved at them before disappearing behind a curtain. After peeking in, Julia followed her in the next room with familiarity. 

Taako poked again at a tear-shaped crystal, making several of them clink together and Barry had to mouth  _ ‘Stop it’ _ at him before Paloma and Julia came back, the latter holding a small piece of paper with a satisfacted expression. 

“We’ve come to say goodbye, Miss Paloma,” Barry said politely. “And thank you for your assistance in freeing Refuge.” 

“I am glad my prophecies were helpful,” she nodded, then patted Julia on the hip. “Think of me when you make those cranberry scones, eh?” 

Julia grinned. “Oh, right, these are our friends,” she held out a hand to introduce them. “This is Taako…”

Taako barely glanced at her, continuing to look around. Compared to the bizarre house, the old woman seemed pretty average, even shorter than Merle in stature and with a lot of wrinkles on her kind face. 

“And I’m Angus McDonald, Boy Detective!” Angus shook her hand politely. “This place is incredible!” 

“What a polite little gentleman! Your magic friend doesn’t talk much!” 

“He’s-” Barry shot him a weird look, “a bit of a magical observer.”

Taako glared at him, but for some reason he couldn’t muster the energy to retort to that. He was starting to feel tired, maybe he  _ should  _  have rested a bit before going out. The house was warm and welcoming but Taako  _ didn’t want to be _ there. And yet, the glances Angus and Merle were giving him, like they were handling a hot potato, annoyed him to no end. He wasn’t a fucking  _ baby _ in need of being kept under control.

“I’m fine,” he said at no one in particular. He almost didn’t notice Paloma gesturing him to approach, but he did and kneeled in front of her to be on eye level.

“Oh, what a splendid gentleman,” she cooed, gently cupping his face. Her hands were warm and smelled of fresh bread, it took him a moment to realize why he felt so at ease. It was the same smell from all that time ago pervading Aunt Tilla’s house. “You’re facing some scary changes in your life, but everything is going to be alright,” she murmured so that only he could hear her, and for some reason these words actually made him feel better.

“Hey, Barold,” Taako smiled, looking at him sideways. “I think this old lady is into me.”

Barry snorted and Paloma started chuckling, playfully slapping Taako’s cheek before backing away and climbing on a chair at her table.  “Do you want a prophecy before you go? It’s on the house.” 

Taako stood back up on his feet. “Prophecy?” He asked, ignoring the small hint of dizziness that hit him when he straightened up.

“Miss Paloma is a Witch and an Emissary of Istus,” Barry explained, fondly. “Like Buffin, she can see things that other people wouldn’t be able to.” 

“Prophecy...” he repeated, then took a deep breath and turned towards Paloma, flashing a huge smile. “Sure! Lay it on me!” 

A small crystal fell from the ceiling and shattered, and all of a sudden the room seemed to become darker. Paloma opened her mouth to speak but her voice was much more deeper now, as if she was channelling someone- or something else’s words. 

_ “A bell will toll, one bird will fall. Two birds can break the cage, that one lone bird could not.” _

The light returned to normal, Paloma blinked and smiled gently. 

“Dang it,” Taako whispered, impressed. “Cryptic much? What gives?” 

“I admit, they weren’t as cryptic yesterday…” Barry frowned. 

“Oh, and one more thing,” from a pocket in her apron, Paloma extracted another crystal, bigger this time. “This one fell just before you arrived, but didn’t break. I suppose it’s just right that you keep it.” She handed it to Barry, who grabbed it carefully with both hands.

Taako approached him, trying to get a better look at it, but leaned a bit too heavily on Barry’s shoulders, making them both stagger.

“Hey!” Barry exclaimed, slipping the crystal in his breast pocket to help Taako stand on his feet. He was squeezing his eyes and shaking his head, trying to keep another wave of nausea at bay but it was just making it worse.

“Hey, you alright?” Julia was immediately by his side as well. Why wouldn’t they just give him  _ space _ , dammit.

“Hey, come on, guys, let him breathe!” Merle gently pulled her away.

He was still leaning on Barry, but the room was spinning furiously, sparks of light dancing in front of his eyes like- like-  _ dammit _ . He clenched his fists, taking deep breaths to calm down. Merle and Barry were discussing again.

“Oh, oh my,” Paloma said with concern. “You might want to lay down, dear, lest you fall and hurt yourself.”

Barry nodded and helped him sit on a nearby couch, the nausea waves calmed down but it was still hard to focus on what everyone else was saying.

A warm hand on his forehead. “He doesn’t seem to have a fever.”  _ Julia. _

A cold one took its place, Taako closed his eyes, the cold was pleasant, calming the dizziness. “I think he might have, his body temperature should have dropped.”  _ Barry. _ He tried to move away, but Taako grabbed his wrist, keeping his palm pressed against his skin. “Uh?”

“That’s...kinda cute,” Julia giggled quietly.

Taako kept Barry still until his head stopped spinning and he finally could focus again on his surroundings. Some minutes had to have passed, because Paloma handed him a cup of warm tea that definitely wasn’t brewing when they arrived. Ginger prickled his tongue, helping him wake up completely.  _ Damn,  _ this old lady was  _ good. _ “Dammit, I don’t fucking need your pity, don’t look at me like that. I’ll be fine.” He said when he realized they were all looking at him.

“You’re not well, dear,” Paloma said calmly, pouring four more cups of ginger tea. “They’re your family, it’s just normal that they care for you.” 

Taako frowned and opened his mouth to make some sarcastic remark but he just swallowed hard, felt that slab of heartache slide over the lump in this throat, and he locked it all away.

“Let them.” 

\- 

From a certain point of view, it was a blessing that the trip to Neverwinter took them so long.

Taako slept for a solid 12 hours when they got him to lay in a makeshift pillow fort Magnus had made in a corner of the covered wagon Barry bought in Refuge. It was a heavy and dreamless sleep Taako wasn’t sure he had ever experienced before in his life: he was safe, he had his family back,  _ everything was going to be fine. _

Except nothing was that simple. Even after waking up and feeling relatively  _ fine _ he kept having moments he needed to lay down for no apparent reason. Nausea hit first, as a warning, followed by a series of  _ bothersome _ symptoms that lasted until he gave up and laid down, wrapped up in the sheets and pillows they loaded on the wagon.

“It’s probably your body getting used to housing a heavier- a  _ more powerful _ soul,” Barry tried to explain, but when Taako asked whether he and Lup went through the same issues, he swiftly avoided the conversation or changed topic.

The sparks continued to emerge from time to time, dancing over his skin whenever he prepared to channel a spell. Whenever this happened, he found out quickly that casting was the best way to make it settle. Trying to get them to disappear on their own started to leave small bruises and burns on his arms, that he masterfully hid from the rest of the group by spending as much time as possible on his own.

Ironically, as their journey continued, the person Taako found himself spending the longest periods of time with was Angus McDonald. The kid was more curious than afraid - Taako was seriously starting to doubt he had any self preservation instinct - but lacked that morbid  _ scientific  _ interest Barry displayed towards his condition more often than Taako would have liked him to.

“...Sir?”

Taako shook his head. He was pretty sure, he’d been writing in his spellbook, where was it? “Where is it?” he mumbled, looking around. He finally spotted leather bound notebook closed neatly on a crate just outside of reach. “What was I…?”

“You were telling me about cantrips, sir,” Angus smiled, patiently. “Prestidigitation was…”

“...the first spell I learned,” Taako finished for him.  _ Right. _ Angus had been asking him if he could continue the magic lesson he started giving him on the Moonbase, so Taako had put his spellbook aside and, since the kid seemed to have a pretty good grasp of Mage Hand, started telling him about another cantrip. It took him a few seconds to take up where he left off. “It’s all a matter of  _ creativity _ how useful it is.”

Angus nodded. “I think it’s very versatile, I remember my grandpa used that spell to make words in a book different colors when he taught me to read!”

Oh, right, the kid had been living with a grandpa. That tidbit of information passed right over his head. “Sounds like prestidigitation, it’s also useful to flavor up bland food. There’s plenty of effects, we can start with something easy,” he said, pressing his fingers to the floor of the wagon. When he lifted his hand there was a glowing capital T impressed in the wood. “This variant allows you to make a small mark or symbol appear on a solid surface for-”

Angus leaned forward to examine the mark. Taako immediately moved away from him, to give him space, and Angus looked up curiously.

“It’s ok, sir,” he grinned. “But I’ll need to see the spell a little bit closer, if I want to-”

All of a sudden there was a rustling, footsteps on the fresh fallen snow that had appeared on the ground as soon as they left the Woven Gulch.

“Are they back al-” Angus started to say, when the ugly mug of a nasty looking dwarf appeared in front of them, grabbing the kid’s arm and pointing a knife at his throat.

“Your gold,  _ now _ or the kid gets it,” the bandit snarled.

Taako slowly stood up, trying to grasp the handle of the Umbrastaff before remembering Barry brought it with him hoping to find an artificer that could fix it.  _ Annoying. _ Thankfully, Angus didn’t seem to be panicking -  _ preservation instinct zero, _ he really needed to have a talk with him.

“I’m fine, sir,” Angus said calmly.

Taako leaned on a crate, feigning boredom, but with his eyes fixed on the rusted knife at Angus’ throat. “Haven’t got any, my dude. The guys brought the cash in town with them.”

“Then hop off! Gimme the wagon!”

“What! No can do!” Taako exclaimed, scandalized, a hand dramatically on his chest. “Listen, I can fix you up a good meal if you leave my boy alone, I’m feeling generous.” He started thinking of a spell to neutralize the bandit without hurting Angus in the process, he had no focus, no components - or the time to transmute them - but any evocation spell was going to hit Angus as well. He gritted his teeth, focusing on the large list of spells, discarding one option after the other.

_ He felt it  _ this time: anticipation and magical energy building up in his body were enough for the the red sparks to manifest once more around his body, despite his last minute attempt to keep them under control.

Taako grimaced and clenched his fists as the bandit yelped, startled, stepping back and pulling Angus from the wagon. The boy fell backwards and the rusty blade, held clumsily by the dwarf, slid out of his hand, grazing slightly Angus’ throat. A small trickle of blood started flowing and Taako  _ stared _ as Angus’ scrambled on his feet, backing away from the dwarf.

“Sir! I’m fine, it’s just a s-”

But Taako wasn’t looking at him anymore.

-

When the rest of the group returned to the wagon, there was a rope tied to one of the wheels, the other end around the neck of a fat and dirty  _ mongoose _ that was flailing about, attempting to get free.

“Where did this guy come from?” Magnus kneeled down, trying to pet it. The animal hissed and bit his finger and Magnus stood up, frowning and showing the bite mark to Julia, who chuckled at his expression.

Barry was more concerned about the scattered prints on the snow, like there had been some kind of fight or kerfuffle and  _ not _ with a small animal.

“Taako? Angus?” He called, in agitation, as he pulled the curtains on the back of the wagon.

“Shut the fuck up, Barold,” Taako’s mumbling voice came from the pillow fort, muffled and tired. Barry sighed with relief as he approached him and saw Angus, curled up against Taako’s body and sleeping soundly. The kid looked healthy, but Taako was battered and weary, like he’d been in a  _ fight _ \- and the idea of Taako fighting was pretty absurd in itself.

“What happened to you? Why is there a  _ mongoose _ tied up outside?” Barry asked, in a whisper but with urgency. Taako just mumbled something intelligible: it was impossible to understand whether he was pretending to be sleepy to avoid explaining or really half asleep. Either way, Barry wasn’t in a hurry: he was just glad they both were alright. Barry smiled and backed away, closing the curtain behind him.

“Are they alright?” Julia asked, dropping the bag of flour they’d purchased.

“Yeah, they’re sleeping,” Barry nodded and looked again at the hissing mongoose, what he reasonably assumed to be an unfortunate bandit or rogue who decided to attack the wrong caravan. They would free him once he calmed down a little, the spell had to end sometime after all, but they had to leave. No time to lose.

-

Taako woke up during the night as the wagon was already moving, mouth dry and muscles aching: he really underestimated the power of that goddamn Life Transference spell, but at least Angus was safe and healthy. The kid was still sleeping, snoring softly and  _ with his arms wrapped around Taako. _

“This clingy little squinkly…” Taako groaned, trying to wriggle free and at the same time not move Angus too much. After a few seconds of squirming, he heard someone chuckle quietly and saw Barry looking at him, sitting on the opposite corner of the wagon, beside a loudly snoring Merle.

“I wish I had a fantasy polaroid,” Barry said with a smile. “Anyway, feeling better? You were out for the count when we came back.”

“Yeah, I might have exaggerated with the Life Transference spell, but I’m ok,” Taako answered by default.  _ I’m ok. I’m fine. _ He’s been repeating those things for days, at some point they were bound to become true, weren’t they. “Help me out of here, will you?”

Barry didn’t move. “It’s two in the morning and we’re moving, go back to sleep.”

This didn’t stop Taako’s effort to wriggle free. To his horror, Angus mumbled something in his sleep and held him tighter, prompting a string of curses on Taako’s part. Barry smothered a fit of laughter.

“Listen,” Taako hissed. “Get him away from me or I’m smashing your brand new glasses.”

Barry’s smile dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would…” Taako lilted.

After a moment, Barry rolled his eyes. “Just wake him up and tell him to move, if you don’t want him around.”

“It’s not that I don’t want him around. I don’t want to-” Taako bit his tongue before spouting some nonsense.

“You don’t want to hurt him,” Barry finished the sentence, realizing what he was going to say. “ _ Taako… _ ” he started, sighing deeply.

“ _ Barry. _ ” Taako hissed, in the same tone, tinted with annoyance. “You know what can happen, you experienced it first hand. So, fuck’s sake, get this little twerp away from before I- I-” he stammered, squeezing his eyes shut when he felt his nose starting to burn.

“It’s ok, sir…” Angus murmured quietly, his little hands holding more tightly as he made them realize he’d been awake for a while now. “I know you won’t harm me…”

Taako took a sharp breath, but relaxed a bit. “You don’t know that, bubeleh,” he said, hesitantly gripping the kid’s shoulder to push him off.

“Taako,” Barry called him, smiling kindly and laying down to rest himself. “You’re not a danger to us, you’ll never be.”

“It’s-”

“We’re not scared of you, so don’t be either.”

After a moment of surprise, Taako let himself fall down on the pillows.  _ Scared? _ That wasn’t what this was all about...or was it? He was  _ right _ to be scared, he was- he was-

“Sir?” Angus called, making him realize he’d been still gripping the kid’s shoulder. Without really thinking about it, he slid his hand on his back and pulled him tighter, resting his chin on his head. He used to sleep like this with Lup, curled up against each other, at the worst times. It had been such a long time since he slept next to another warm body.

_ It was comforting. _

“Are you sure, Ango?”

“I’m sure.”

-

The rest of the journey went without further incidents. The people from the Bureau didn’t appear again: only as they approached Neverwinter, they heard rumors of an orc and a dragonborn putting up bounties for a group of five whose descriptions resembled them. Thankfully, hiding their trademark red clothes and entering the city through the sewer system seemed to work to conceal them. They settled in an empty house that has belonged to someone very affluent once, but was too close to the Chasm to keep living in it, right next to the wall built to keep the unholy creatures in it at bay. 

It was exactly the place Barry tossed his bell in from. 

“I thought you said it was in the sewer system!” Magnus cried when he revealed this to them. 

“Kinda?” He shrugged, with a smile that had nothing apologetic to it. “I was afraid you’d want to go in before we actually made sure that the Bell is in fact in there.” 

“We’ve been in a Battlewagon Race, a crystallizing necromancy laboratory, I’d say we can afford a deadly abyss-” Merle started. 

Barry pointed angrily at him. “See? That’s what I thought! That place radiates spellplague, I won’t let you go in there!” 

“What, are you planning to go on your own?” Julia cried. 

“I guess  _ you _ would be fine even if you do die,” Merle shrugged, “but this is your last time, you won’t have a body anymore if you do.” 

“I’m fine with that,” Barry nodded. “I’ll secure your access to the Library first, so you can look for the Bell in case it’s not there, but after that I’m-” 

Taako raised a hand. 

“No.” Barry said immediately. 

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!” Taako opened his arms. 

“You’re not coming with me!” 

Taako puffed his cheeks. 

“Yeah, I agree. It’s too early for you to go ghost,” Magnus chuckled. 

“That’s not what I was going to say! Can’t you just use Magic Jar or some shit and fly in there?” 

Barry blinked, then rubbed his cheek thinking about it. “Magic jar is... _ not a bad idea _ , I never thought to use it to…” he stopped. “It has a time limit, though, and only works up to a 100 feet from the caster’s body…”

“You  _ never thought- _ Gods, Barold, you should be ashamed of yourself…” Taako grinned.

\- 

It was a decision that weighted with a sense of finality, he knew. But he was ready, he needed to be in his lich form to fight The Hunger anyway, and he didn’t plan to stick around for much longer after that if Lup-

A single teardrop fell on the page of the volume he was reading. The headmaster had allowed him to secretly enter the private library one last time - for old times’ sake. Barry felt a little bad about it but kept putting volumes he thought would be useful or interesting in Julia’s Shared Pouch of Transfer.

Barry snapped the book close and quietly slipped it in the bag, not noticing the hooded figure who quietly approached him from behind. 

“Barry.” 

He almost jumped out of his pants. 

\- 

When he opened the door of the rotting mansion, Magnus and Merle were having an arm wrestling match in the living room, and Taako and Angus had just made something explode in a corner, judging by the mess. 

“You’re back!” Julia noticed him first. 

“Yeah, there’s been a change of plans” Barry rubbed the back of his neck and stepped aside, letting the hooded figure walk into the room. Silence fell almost immediately when the figure removed the hood. 

“I know where the Bell is,” Lucretia said, fighting a smile to see her family safe and sound. “And I’m gonna tell you, but I need your help.”


	33. 'This is the worst.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And worse I may be yet. The worst is not so long as we can say “This is the worst.”_   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 4 Scene 1_

Lucretia cast Banishment on the new guard in front of the wooden door, letting out an exclamation of relief when she realized that while she’d just burned her last spell slot, there were no further obstacles in her way. She was a decent magic user, but she knew her limitations: once the kind guard who broke her out of prison stayed behind to fight and allow her to move on, she was on her own, and there was little a specialist in abjuration like her could do without anyone to support.

Davenport clung to her dress, frightened by the commotion they caused. She needed to restore his mind and get him to help if she wanted to fly the Starblaster. She had learned to fly the ship on Cycle 65 but she didn’t have the Captain’s ability to maneuver it through the Bureau’s defenses. Taako purposefully left him out when he had the the rest of the group inoculated, and she could imagine why, but she wasn't gonna leave him behind: she’d wronged him enough already.

The main office was empty, and that was unsettling by itself, but it was the sight of the open vault door that set a deep dread in her gut. Her laboratory had been, for lack of a better word, ransacked. Journal pages had been scattered all around, there were ink stains on the floor and walls but, thankfully, the Voidfish tank had been left untouched. Whoever emptied the lab either couldn’t see it, didn’t think it was important, or didn’t know how to move it.

“Davenport!” the gnome squeaked, when a distant pop, accompanied by angry shouts signaled the end of the Banishment spells.

Lucretia took off her mantle and gently lifted up the Voidfish from its tank, wrapping it in the fabric to avoid it floating away on its own. 

“Davenport!” 

She grabbed a bowl sitting by a side of the tank and splashed it in the ichor, hurriedly and without much of a care. “Drink. And...I’m sorry.”

Davenport took the cup with shaking hands.

When three guards burst into the room, they looked around in confusion and surprise and it took Lucretia a moment to realize a Greater Invisibility spell had been cast around them. She waited for the guards to leave, holding her breath, before turning around just as the illusion melted away.

Davenport was pale as a sheet and panting heavily, the spell taking a heavier toll than usual under the circumstances, but it was admirable how fast he’d acted even though his mind was still in the process of rebuilding itself.

“Captain, we have to go,” Lucretia prompted him to stand. “The ship is-”

Davenport let the bowl fall and grabbed the front of her dress before she could stand up fully, dragging her down, and with his other hand clocked her in between the eyes. The punch wasn’t strong enough to provoke any damage but it still  _ hurt _ as Lucretia fell backwards, a hand on her nose.

“What the fuck have you done, Lucretia?” Davenport’s first proper words in a decade were full of incredulity and spite as he reeled, clutching his head, still burdened by the flow of a century of memories flowing in.

“We have to go,” Lucretia insisted, weakly. The baby voidfish prodded at her face with a tentacle, understanding she was hurt. She embraced him carefully. “The Starblaster is under the central quad. The guards won’t come back here, but there’s no other exit.”

“Can you teleport us there?”

“I would if I hadn’t exhausted my spell slots,” she stood up, greatly missing the support of her staff. “Had to deal with those guards somehow.”

“Well, why didn’t you teleport us  _ here, _ then?”

“I’m-” Lucretia blinked. “Oh.”

“What is it with you and poor planning?” he snapped, striding towards the exit. Once in Lucretia’s private office, his eyes settled for a moment on the painting, looking at it longingly, before heading to the wall where the three remaining Grand Relics were kept. Without a moment of hesitation, he climbed the pedestal, grabbed and wore the Oculus and walked out, Lucretia barely following him. Once in the main office, instead of heading towards the elevator, he opened the room of the chamber they used for the show of light when pretending they were destroying the relics.

“This-” Lucretia recognized he was heading for one of the secret passages. “It will bring us down to Fisher, further away from the ship!”

“Trust me,” he retorted. “You don’t want to bring that little guy with us, do you?”

A small, gnome-sized door opened on the wall and Lucretia had to make an effort in squeezing through it, entering the chamber where Davenport used to take the spheres from: she had created this passage for  _ him  _ to use in case of emergency, but never though she would make use of it as well.

-

Killian hadn’t slept much in the past few days. There had been unrest and complaints by several people in the Bureau after she had taken over Lucretia’s position and more than a few employees had left to get back to their families planetside.

It wasn’t her fault that the  _ priority _ had become to stop the Red Robes, or that the former Director had lied about being able to destroy the relics and was instead collecting them. It wasn’t Killian’s fault she needed the Gauntlet to hope to have the upper hand on the rogue group of Reclaimers and their associates. It wasn’t her fault Taako had killed one of the men most faithful to the Bureau.  _ It wasn’t her fault. _

When the news of Lucretia’s escape got to them, she was resting in her quarters, Gauntlet on her bedside, freshly changed bandages around her right hand, where the Relic had left scars and blisters on it every time she used it. Carey curled up against her, stealing body heat, asleep and oblivious to the anxiety snarling at the back of Killian’s mind, keeping her from sleeping.

She immediately bolted out of bed and mobilized the few members of the guard she still had at her disposal, but even though she headed for her office, when the guards managed to corner her, Lucretia was  _ gone. _ She spread them all around the base, focusing her attention on the cannons and the border - if she was foolish enough she might try to jump off with a Featherfall spell - but still no sign of them.

She had the spellcasters on base casting True Seeing on everyone, in case Lucretia was spamming Invisibility spells, but it was useless.  _ They were gone.  _ She already lost track of the rogue Reclaimers, she couldn’t afford another hit like this. And yet, the mechanical sound and the vibrations on the floor of the main quad were a telltale sign of what was going to happen.

The ground split open and a sleek silver shape rose from the ground - of course,  _ of course _ it was a  _ flying  _ ship - the ring on its back spinning rapidly and glowing bright white. Killian heard a few employees shout “Dragon!” when the ship rose and indeed, even with True Seeing in effect, she saw the transparent outline of an illusory dragon around it.

At Killian’s orders, the remaining guards started firing arrows, spears and spells at the Starblaster, hoping to keep it from fleeing the base, but once it had completely risen from the hangar, it started speeding and swiftly avoiding most hits, flying in circles closer and closer to the top of the base until, with a bright crash, broke through the dome of wards and protection spells around the whole satellite, rising and soon disappearing over the clouds.

Killian screamed in frustration.

She had lost.

_ Again. _

-

With a weird mixture of relief and embarrassment, Lucretia sat down in the middle of the room, in an old wooden chair that was barely standing together, under the surprised and guarded glances of the rest of the group. “I’m glad to find you all in good health, especially you, Angus. I didn’t think anyone of you knew how to care for a kid.”

“They don’t!” Angus grinned, “I can take care of myself!”

Julia snorted, while Barry sighed, no one else seemed to react.

“Harsh,” Merle commented. “Are you here on your own?”

A moment of hesitation, then, “Killian and her people aren’t with me, I broke out of prison!”

“Well, well,” Taako murmured, with a bitter grin. He had Angus at his side, one hand on the kid’s shoulder: the stance surprised her, she didn’t know the two of them were so close. “So the Bureau isn’t under your control anymore,” he added, in a singasong tone.

“And whose fault is that, excuse me?” she retorted, leaning forward towards him. “You put on a show to - I’d say - discredit me publicly and left me to pick up the ashes!”

Taako shrugged, unfazed by this display of anger. “To be fair,” he chuckled, “you portrayed us as those  _ ominous and dangerous _ Red Ro-oh-obes. You dug your own grave with that!”

Lucretia grimaced and stood up suddenly, she was aware she was singling him out but this was a discussion the two of them should have had for a while now. “You already seemed to make a point on inflicting me as much pain at possible!” She screamed, it was Taako’s turn to wince. “Was it really necessary? The Bureau was… I’ve worked for ten years to make it  _ my own place _ and you just- you just-” her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands.

Taako opened his mouth to reply, but Angus pulled on his sleeve and shook his head. “That’s enough, sir.”

Magnus, holding tightly Julia’s hand, stepped forward, his expression hard and inscrutable. “Luce, it’s- You created the Bureau on your own, supported the whole organization alone, made it  _ yours _ and it’s commendable, except for the fact that  _ nobody asked you to. _ ”

Lucretia lifted her head in shock and she wasn’t the only one. Seeing Magnus, loving and reasonable Magnus, still bearing a grudge was unnatural. It made them wonder just how much of it was really  _ anger. _

“Nobody asked you to shoulder this burden alone, you- you  _ tossed us away _ like-”

“I gave you a better life,” she said quietly.

“You did,” he nodded, taking her by surprise again. “But I hope you realize that  _ now _ I know I was living in a peaceful bliss while there were people,  _ my family _ needing my help, my protection and I was not with them.” He said, gravelly. “You needed my help,” he gestured in her general direction. “And instead of asking it you  _ took _ things from me.”

“And you can’t say you gave  _ me  _ a better life, Lucretia,” Barry stepped in. “I was  _ longing _ for someone I didn’t even know if she was real or not  _ for such a long time _ before Taako found me.”

“It wasn’t meant to take this long,” Lucretia explained. “I miscalculated, I thought I would be able to get the relics quickly once they weren’t being sought anymore.”

“ _ I miscalculated _ sounds like a good resume of all your history,” Taako smirked. “What is with you and bad planning, anyway?”

“Says the one who attempted to use the Philosopher Stone and royally fucked up,” she said, regretting immediately those words when the whole room seemed to  _ tense _ at the same time.

After a few seconds of silence, Taako started laughing and the tension lifted. “You’re right, but at least I only fucked  _ myself _ up. You did  _ a lot _ worse.”

“This is not about who did worse or better,” Julia admonished them both. “We won’t get anywhere if we keep accusing each other. Why are you here, Mad-  _ Lucretia? _ How did you find us?”

“I’ve been at the library for days, I knew you’d be looking for the Bell and I know that you’d look for information there. I met Barry there by chance today, but I escaped weeks ago, not long after your... _ performance. _ ” She enunciated the last word slowly. “And I’m here because I know where the Animus Bell is and that we can only get it back if we work  _ together _ .”

“About time you realized that,” Barry mumbled, but smiled.

“Yeah,” Taako rubbed his neck. “I’m not completely sold on that. Why should we  _ trust _ you?”

Lucretia grimaced for a moment before recomposing herself. “I’m not asking you to trust me,” she took out a Stone of Farspeech from inside a pendant around her neck and held it out on her open palm in front of them all. “They’re all here, Captain.” She suppressed a smile when she saw all of them suddenly straighten up and their expressions of distrust and hostility change into genuine surprise.

“You inoculated Davenport!” Merle beamed.

“Very well, I’m glad you’re all in one piece,” Davenport’s voice came from the stone.

Magnus grinned and looked like he was going to talk first, but was interrupted by Merle, who grabbed Lucretia’s hand and lowered it down. “Dav! Where are you now?”

“Where I should’ve stayed,” he said bitterly and Lucretia cringed. “On the Starblaster. Killian is using the telescopes to figure out your position, since you made your bracers untraceable - good call, by the way.” There was a tint of amusement in his voice. “But she can’t follow something flying higher than the Moonbase.”

Merle laughed.

“Hey, wait a- wait a-” Taako leaned forward. “Hey, Cap, Cap’nport, look- no hard feelings about leaving you on base, right? We had our reasons to do that.”

“Yes, Taako, I can imagine.” Davenport said. It was impossible to know what expression he was making through the audio medium but his voice was suddenly colder. “We  _ will _ discuss that, along with everything else. Now I want you all back here so we can have a proper meeting.”

“Sure, sure, but I wanted- I wanted to say,” Taako grinned. “Did you escape the bee-oh-bee on the fucking Starblaster?”

“Yes, we totally did. It was a baller endeavour and I regret nothing,” Lucretia deadpanned.

“Holy shit,” Taako laughed. “Rad.”

“Excuse me, sir, Captain Davenport, sir,” Angus stepped forward from behind Taako.

“Who’s-”

“It’s Angus McDonald, boy detective. I’ve heard a lot about you, I can’t wait to meet you in person-” he said quickly. “Anyway, how are we gonna board the ship?” Taako pointed at him. “You said you can’t lower the altitude below the Bureau!”

Lucretia cleared her throat and stood up, unfolding a piece of paper with a circle and some runes inscribed on it. “We’ve been working on a Teleportation Circle to establish from the ship to here, I’ve got the components with me, I just need to draw it.”

Barry made a face. “Yeah, sure, let’s walk blindly in a portal.”

Merle raised his arms, excited like a kid on his birthday. “Beam me up!” he exclaimed. Everybody else groaned but Julia and Angus, who looked at each other and shrugged.

“Must be an alien thing,” Julia whispered, jokingly.

Angus stared with his mouth open and pulled gently the fabric of Taako’s cloak. “Are we gonna go on your spaceship, sir?”

Taako looked at Lucretia, who nodded and started preparing the circle, tracing it on the wall with a glowing piece of chalk. “You know, Agnes?” he beamed, “We totally are!”

-

The first years of the Bureau of Balance, before the second voidfish was born, were the roughest ones for Davenport. He was in a constant daze, the very ground he stood on dissolved into static sometimes and he almost wandered off and fell from the border once. That’s when the Direc-  _ Lucretia _ took him as ‘her ward’, and started to keep an eye on him at all times. Then, the baby voidfish was born and she finally inoculated him, just shortly before manipulating the rest of the crew in joining the Bureau.

The first inoculation did little for him, it cleared his surroundings and the discussions of those around him, but it did little for his clouded and confused mind. It was like being offered a light in the middle of a stormy sea, being given the hope of a shore, and discovering it was just a bright buoy. It was disappointing, it tasted like a betrayal of convenience.

He smiled, did his best to fit in even if his brain and thoughts were muddied. He tried to stand his ground even though people kept looking at him with either pity or condescension. When Magnus, Merle and Taako arrived on base he felt  _ so glad _ even though he didn’t know why, and it was nice when Taako talked to him like to a normal person, without that mocking undertone everyone else but the Director had.

He wanted to thank him but lacked the words. He prepared him a gift for Candlenights, a book since he seemed to like those but before he could give it to him, disasters started falling like a ravine.

And before he could even begin to understand what was going on, he got tossed in a prison cell with the Director. And then they were escaping and she was making him drink something and then...

Having passed the initial rush of adrenaline that helped him get out of the situation, the full weight of the situation crashed down on Davenport like a sudden cold shower once the Starblaster was flying over the clouds on autopilot.  _ They had less than a year. _

He silently thanked that Lucretia had left him alone in the helm: he didn’t know what he would’ve done if she stayed around.  _ Take the matter in her own hands? _ Well, that plan failed spectacularly, but he failed as Captain when he didn’t realize what Lucretia was up to, he let her destroy everything they worked for and, sure, the world was not ravaged by war but a new plague tormenting the land had been born: a plague of missing memories, of broken families.  _ Their  _ broken family, especially: it was surprising the Bond Engine still worked at all.

How many ended up like him? She couldn’t think that they were the only people deeply involved with the Relics after everything they wrought.

He steered away from these thoughts, focusing on one thing at a time.  _ They had to find the rest of their family first. _ And then they’d decide what to do: if Lucretia wanted to do her bubble thing,  _ fine, _ but she needed to convince the rest of the crew that was the right choice, this time.

It took them a few weeks to find the seven who had seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth. The broken sphere they used to escape landed in the Woven Gulch and from there they found a town with a statue of Magnus and another with Merle, Barry and Julia, but there was no trace of the people it depicted. Finally, a young woman called June showed them she was still in possession of Magnus’ relic, now deprived of the Light of Creation and its immense power and  _ craveability _ . June used it once to show Davenport the group camping in a snowy forest: they seemed well but it was impossible to understand where they were or were going.

Lucretia’s reasoning was vital for them to finally reunite with the rest of the crew (and a couple new people). Davenport felt his nerves finally react when the Teleportation circle on the deck activated and two by two, the people he’d been waiting to see for almost a month were finally in front of him.

And as he stepped forward, it was Magnus who first stood at attention. And the rest soon followed, looking at him with respect, gladness and a little bit of awkwardness. They looked weary and tired, and it was especially in Taako’s lack of makeup or glamour that Davenport realized the situation was maybe a little more severe than he initially thought.

“Welcome back,” Davenport smiled at them and his eyes lingered on Merle for just a moment longer before he headed to the circular table positioned in the room and sat in one of the chairs, inviting the rest of them to sit down with him. “We need to talk.”

-

When a messenger crow landed on Kravitz’s shoulder holding a cypress twig, the Reaper sighed. He hadn’t heard from the IPRE group in weeks and even if he had permission to interfere now, he kinda hoped things settled enough for them not to involve him again. He really didn’t want to face them and admit he found no red robed elven lich woman in the Stockade, nor that even if he did he’d never be able to free her.

Also, there were now two liches in the group that he itched to bring in but couldn’t because apparently they had the favour of Istus, and the Raven Queen was forbidding Kravitz to attack them.

Liches born without a sacrifice, without bloodshed and without real intentions to defeat the order his Queen oversaw, but still powerful and uncontrollable undead creatures that posed a danger to everyone around them. He was fascinated, surely, but also wary of them.

So when he cut a portal towards the Prime Material Plane he expected Bluejeans asking for more favors, instead he found Taako, sitting on the desk of what looked like a ship cabin, except every single wall, floor and piece of furniture was painted white.

“Hello, Krav,” Taako smiled at him. He looked tired, but more content and relaxed than the last time he saw him, when he abruptly ended his visit and conversation.

“It’s  _ Kravitz, _ ” he corrected him absentmindedly. “Did you safely get to Neverwinter? Where are we?”

Taako looked around with a smug smile. “It’s the place I called home for the longest I can remember.” He jumped down from the desk: behind him there was a small oval window showing a dreamlike scenery of a cloud coat illuminated by the red setting sun.

“Are we flying?” Kravitz leaned forward, looking outside, mouth open in awe.

“Welcome to the Starblaster.”

The ship that brought them from plane to plane, the century of wandering that shaped that most unusual group into what the were now. Kravitz couldn’t believe he was witnessing such a marvel of magitechnology.

“I want a full tour later, of course,” he smirked as he turned his back to the window and faced Taako again. “But I feel like this isn’t the only reason you summoned me.”

“Of course not,” Taako was still smiling, but also fidgeting with his hair and avoiding to look at Kravitz in the eyes. “I have a request.”

_ Obviously. _ Kravitz sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see what I’m allowed to do.” And  _ want to _ do, he added silently.

Taako smiled and leaned forward. “We have found a way to save this world, but for that to happen, I need something from you.”

-

They had sat at the table together like this when they decided to split the light. It felt like ages ago since they looked at each other in the eyes and confronted their doubts like this.

Angus was sitting on Taako’s lap, notebook clutched between his tiny fingers and eyes planted on Davenport and filled with admiration ever since the gnome had spoken to them.

Magnus had let Julia sit in his place and was protectively standing behind her chair, not unlike a soldier protecting a queen.

One chair was left purposefully empty, between Taako and Barry.

“You already know why I wanted a meeting like this now,” Davenport started, adjusting his beret. He wasn't even looking at Lucretia. “We're gonna join our forces and recover the Animus Bell, to recover the Light of Creation to its original status. I recognize the Relics experiment was a failure, and I’m taking full responsibility for it.”

Davenport had always been a man of facts and few words, but his decade long silence evidently weighted on him because words were flowing out of his mouth like a flood.

“Before Lucretia discloses its location, I’d- I’d like all of you to give me a valid reason not to start the next cycle and proceed to look for a valid way to escape the Hunger.”

He spoke and after a split second of tense silence, the rest of the group exploded in shouts, everyone speaking at the same time.

“I'm not leaving my kids.”

“Julia.”

“I’m tired of running away and hiding.”

“It’s not right.”

“...to build a future…”

“...to grow old in…”

“...the people…”

Julia slammed her hands on the table, surprising and silencing everyone. “If I may,” she started, quiet but determined, “Captain Davenport, everybody, as a native of this world I have to say this. If a solution is not found, and fighting the Hunger really is suicide, then I want you to leave.”

“Jules?!” Magnus cried in panic, holding her shoulders as he turned to face her.

She grabbed his hands, interlocking their fingers. “I love you Mags,” she turned towards the rest. “I love all of you, but you can’t always win, always save everyone. I'd rather have a chance at living and remembering and knowing that somewhere, out there you're still looking, you're still fighting to win-” her voice broke but she forced herself to smile, “than be trapped without love, in a world slowly dying…”

“You don't know that will happen!” Lucretia stood up too. “The Light might be able to preserve the Bonds!”

“Then it wouldn’t be able to stop the Hunger!” Barry snapped. “Bonds keep the Hunger together too, you know that!” He was about to add something, to start to explain the proofs of his claim, when he realized something was warming up in his breast pocket: he reached for it, and took out Paloma’s prophecy crystal.

“What's that?” Davenport frowned, noticing it.

“I don't know, it's-” he didn't finish his sentence. The crystal slipped out of his fingers and hovered in the middle of the round table, becoming more brilliant each second until finally, with a loud ting it cracked.

And the scenery around them changed.

It was Neverwinter, the city below them, engulfed in the Hunger’s pitch black tendrils, creatures of black opal laying waste to the city, leaving only corpses and destruction behind. A silver shape flew up and into the dark storm and disappeared in a flash of light. The tendrils slowly retreated and disappeared.

The scenery changed: inside the Starblaster’s command room, Davenport alone, battered and injured and crying, fought to escape the storm and finally a brilliant starry sky - unfamiliar constellations all around them - took the place of the dark clouds. Filaments of light swirled all around, forming six familiar shapes.

Magnus, no more than a boy, with a black eye, started sobbing like a newborn. Lucretia, young again, fell to her knees, face in her hands.

Barry and Taako both turned around to face the figure forming by Taako’s side with hopeful smiles that quickly shattered when Lup’s form crumbled to the ground, lifeless. Her body had reformed, but for some reason her soul hadn’t come back. Taako threw himself towards Davenport, begging him to go back and-

The vision disappeared. Everybody was still sitting around the table, reeling from the incredibly vivid experience. Magnus was actually crying, Taako was a pale as a sheet and was clutching on the Umbrastaff like his life depended on it.

“I’m s-” Davenport started, but before he could finish, another crack appeared in the still hovering crystallized prophecy.

The scenery changed. Neverwinter was whole and a brilliant light shone in the middle: the stormy sky became white and luminous and in the middle of the city, Lucretia crumbled to her knees with an exhausted smile. Magnus hugged Julia, but nobody else felt like celebrating.

Time seemed to run fast and faster and as the shadow of people appeared and disappeared, they quickly realized the walls and fabrics and objects had lost their colors, giving the world a black and white texture. Time resumed its natural flow and everybody gasped in horror as they realized the people's faces were grey and blank, more ghostly than alive, going about their routines with repeated motions. People drinking from empty mugs, browsing empty stands. The city was silent. A vagabond, prone in the middle of the road, crumbled to ashes in a moment without a warning, the other people stared impassable for a moment before resuming their activities.

When the vision faded, Lucretia was horrified. “Did I do that?”

“Not yet,” Davenport said before he could stop himself.

“Lup, oh, gods, why...” Barry was holding his head, elbows on the table.

“Is that really all there is? A future of agony or a bleak eternity of dust?” Julia clenched her fists.

“That future...a world starving of all his bonds, that's not something we can wish for!” Davenport looked at Lucretia, who simply nodded, her face still frozen in horror. “We fly, we try again and the next time we don’t put the Light back together. Lup-”

“Starving.”

Everybody looked at Taako, who'd just spoken and was looking at Davenport, eyes shining with a hope they hadn't seen in a while.

“Starving!” he repeated, jumping on his feet, sending unceremoniously Angus on the ground. The boy glared at him, standing back on his feet, but his expression quickly shifted into curiosity.

Barry lifted up his head, seeming to understand whatever prompted this spontaneous madness of his. “Oh my god...”

“What?” Magnus leaned forward.

Taako looked at him, a smile cracking his lips. “We saw that barrier can starve this world of its bonds! What about we  _ starve  _ the Hunger instead? ”

Barry was grinning too now.

“Wait, what?” Lucretia shook her head and realized a moment later what he meant. “You mean...for me to put the barrier around it?”

“It's a Plane of Existence!” Barry exclaimed. “Warped, sick, but still a plane! It could work!”

And in that moment the cracked prophecy shattered and a bright powerful vision hit them like a tidal wave. A sunny day, Neverwinter celebrating the Midsummer festival.

Magnus and Julia, playing with a red haired child who looked two or three years old and was a spitting image of their parents, Merle and Davenport sailing on a boat in a stormy sea and laughing as Della Reese stabbed a monstrous giant eel.

Lucretia, older but satisfied, painting on the beach while a teenaged Angus read a book out loud to her.

Taako, sitting on the beach and chatting amicably with Kravitz. Barry sitting in the shade, reading a huge scary tome, captivated like a kid reading his favourite tale, until a splash of water caught him off guard and  _ there she was,  _ near the water’s edge, looking absolutely fabulous and resplendent under the sun

There was  _ Lup. _

-

“I need a good day from you.”

Kravitz frowned, “An extension on your lifespan?” he tried.

Taako shook his head. “No, no. I didn't mean as a bounty hunter, representative or that shit…” he bit his lip, looking for the right words. “I meant from you. You person. Kravitz.”

Kravitz looked at him puzzled.

Taako finally looked up. “Go out with me.”

“Uh?!”


	34. my heart upon my sleeve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _For when my outward action doth demonstrate the native act and figure of my heart in compliment extern, ’tis not long after but I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at. I am not what I am._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Othello, Act 1 Scene 1_

They closed the meeting with their hearts filled with hope and determination and they immediately realized they had one immediate problem to face.

There had never been more than seven people on the Starblaster. Lucretia had kept most of their possessions on the ship so a few well-casted Prestidigitation spells to clean the dust had been enough to make it look like the ship never stopped flying, but there were still just four rooms and seven beds, not even a spare camp’s bed. There had never been more than seven people on the Starblaster, there was no way there’d ever be. And yet here they were.

They resolved it pretty quickly when Barry retreated into his old laboratory, solving the bedding situation with a planned shift: he said he needed to review his notes from the creation of the Animus Bell in case someone was using it, meanwhile Angus could sleep in his bed in the same room as Taako.

_ And that was just perfect _ since from what he’d observed with some level of amusement, the kid was on the good way to become a decent  _ anchor _ for Taako. Barry knew Taako had realized and was annoyed by his genuine scientific interest, muddied with concern and a little bit of guilt, but there wasn’t another arrangement for the rooms available.

And thus he left the two of them alone.

-

“You know,” Magnus spoke in the dark, as neither he or Julia could fall asleep. “Very very early in our journey me and Lucretia were a thing.”

A moment of silence, then, “Ok?” Julia laughed. “I don’t know how to answer to that...she doesn’t seem your type.”

The two beds were separated and too small for both of them to fit on one. Despite the cold they were holding hands in the space between the two, it was a weird situation that they found more funny than annoying.

“Because you only know her now! She was- well, we were the only two close in age at the time...before ages stopped meaning anything anyway, and she was funny and a bit of a cloudcuckoolander…” he frowned. “She changed after the Judges. A Cycle alone, she never told us about her experience, but I guess that’s how she became the Madame Director you know.”

“I get that you were close…” Julia said, grim. “But she still betrayed you, took everything from you all, all for a plan that would’ve killed us all.”

“Yeah, I agree, that sucks, but,” Magnus clutched her hand in his, “if she hadn’t I would’ve never met you.”

Julia chuckled and caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. “You’re hopeless, that’s why I love you.”

“Just that?” Magnus replied, acting offended.

She laughed and then the two of them spent a long time in silence, almost falling asleep.

“At some point me and Taako were a thing, too.”

“... _ I feel like I should’ve expected that _ ,” she said in a deadpan tone before bursting out laughing.

-

_ From Angus McDonald’s Journal of Investigation. _

**_Log #13_ **

_ I'm closing Investigation #45 on the matter of the Red Robes a.k.a. the IPRE Starblaster Scientific Research Team. I'll list my reasons below to prove in posterity I was not affected by charms, compulsions or a Geas. _

 

  * __They aren't dangerous at all. Or rather, they are from an objective viewpoint, but they mean no harm to the people of this world and - this is my personal opinion-  it’s so fucking amazing that they are actually an_ ** _exploration_** _team, that's why their group is so dishomogeneous and at the same time their classes were perfect for such a purpose. I got Captain Davenport to tell me the details about the mission once things settle down.__


  * _Their talents and expertise are primary to the safety of this plane. I don't know much about The Hunger, but it was enough to see first-hand the Prophecy to know this world needs saving and if someone can do it it’s them._



 

_ Members of the Red Robes - updated (note: most members are actually multiclassers so Taako dissing Barry was purely him being a dick) _

 

  * __Magnus Burnsides - human, fighter (some expertise as a rogue?) - created the Grand Relic of Divination (The Magnus Cup - Lucretia’ s attempt at renaming it the Temporal Chalice were thwarted) with Taako's help (I knew it! Time magic is transmutation after all)__


  * _Merle Highchurch - dwarf, cleric of Pan (not sure about the multiclassing? can he cast druid spells?) - created the Grand Relic of Conjuration (_ ** _The Vinefucker 9001_** _, I think I'm just gonna refer to it as The Sash - what the fuck)_


  * _Taako Taaco (last name found on official document but I wouldn’t put it past him being a joke) - high elf, wizard (Barry told him to consider lichdom as multiclassing, I'm not gonna transcribe what Taako replied because I'm ten and Magnus closed my ears but it was really funny) - created the Grand Relic of Transmutation (The Philosopher's Stone - Taako never named it, Lucretia did)_


  * _Sildar Hallwinter a.k.a. Barry J.(what does it stand for?) Bluejeans - human, he's a natural born sorcerer with shadow magic source, quote “has studied without caring about which spells he could cast and what not, took sword fighting lessons, pledged to several gods and ended up multiclassing like crazy” (note: despite his appearance and demeanor he's easily as powerful as Taako and Lucretia, also a motherfucking_ ** _lich_** _\- I'm slightly scared) - created the Grand Relic of Necromancy (The Animus Bell)_


  * _Lucretia (last name not recorded, weird) - human, wizard and paladin (belief in herself? is that even possible?) - created the Grand Relic of Abjuration (The Bulwark Staff)_


  * _Davenport - rogue (arcane trickster), wizard - created the Grand Relic of Illusion (The Oculus) - he's the ship's and expedition Captain and the others all seem to respect him, the years at the bureau must seem so humiliating now_


  * _Lup Loop (definitely a joke, why different surnames?), Taako's twin sister - high elf, sorcerer with fire magic source, wizard, warlock and quote “who the fuck even knows” (also a lich - sounds like a terrifying combo) - created the Grand Relic of Evocation (The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet) - status:_ _dead_ _confirmed missing_



 

_  Honorary/New members: _

 

  * __Julia Burnsides, nee Waxman - fighter - married Magnus Burnsides, incredibly empathic and honest to a fault.__


  * _Angus McDonald, Boy Detective (that's me!) - I haven't classed yet but I'm thinking of the Arcane Trickster road - ask Davenport_


  * _The actual Grim Reaper holy shit (Kravitz) - I'm not sure what he is but the times he appeared he seemed to be on our side._



 

_ - _

**_Notes on effects of lichdom as explained by Barry._ **

 

  * __A lich is a ghost imbued with arcane power - the astral body gains a quasi solid texture: it can touch and wield magic objects and other magical creatures but is incorporeal to living beings and plain objects.__


  * _Even when inhabiting a living body it’s classified as_ ** _undead_** _, the body will not die of old age while the soul is inhabiting it_ _although it will hypothetically start to decay after a certain point_ _(confirmed as a joke, Barry has a terrible sense of humor) it is still possible for the body to die violently, at that point it will become uninhabitable and the soul will be ejected._


  * _When housed in a living body, a lich’s power is heavily suppressed: it’s very hard to discern it from the living (True Sight only discerns an aura recognizable to those who know what they’re looking for) - while “free” it can exercise immense power but it’s very volatile and needs a lot of self control to avoid going insane (quote “you don’t have a physical brain to help keeping your thoughts in order so what happens is there’s an overflow of thoughts and feelings that translates into bonkers arcane energy”)._


  * _Neutral spells default to Necrotic damage, most healing spells don’t work. A lich is vulnerable to divine powers and radiant damage_



 

-

When Barry returned to the cabin, in the small hours in the morning, Taako was still curled up in his bed but the other one was empty. “...the kid?” he asked.

“...with Cap’n’port,” Taako mumbled, voice muffled from under the mountain of sheets.

Barry nodded, but didn’t say anything, rather preferring to let Taako rest. He went to put down a stack of books and notes he brought with him from the lab, but stopped when his eyes landed on the disrupted circle of five crow’s feathers on the table. “Did you talk with Kravitz?”

Taako hummed in confirmation, shifting until his head appeared from under the covers, his hair messy and tangled, his eyes half open and a thin smile on his lips.

“Taako,” Barry sighed. “What did you do?”

“Asked the Grim Reaper out on a date,” Taako said smugly.

Barry sighed and fought the urge of letting the books fall to dramatically facepalm. “And?” he prompted him. “What did he say?”

Taako shrugged. “He didn’t say no…” he started. “But I wish he hadn't looked at me like I needed to be pitied. Taako doesn't need pity, fuck!” He buried his head back in the covers.

It was interesting to see Taako flustered, at least. “I didn’t have any chance to say it, but you surprised me yesterday.”

“How so?”

“No sparks. With everything we’ve seen, I was almost sure you were going to lose control.”

“You’re a disbeliever, an untrusting backstabbing excuse for a brother in law, Barold.” The mountain of sheets shuffled as he sat up and lifted a shaking fist in his direction. Or at least, Barry assumed he did. “I’m Taako from Tostada’s Vineyard, I have fucking self control!”

Barry laughed heartily. It was obvious that a weight had been lifted from both of them.

“I’m not gonna lose my shit again, I’ve got it now.” Taako continued, more seriously.

“Are you going to tell Lucretia and Cap’n’port about your...uh, condition?” Barry wondered, almost nonchalantly.

“Yeah, sure, someday. Not exactly a priority now…”

"Eeeh..." Barry said, pulling a face as to say ‘debatable’.

“Listen,” Taako ungracefully rolled out of bed, dragging a mess of covers and sheet along, and approached Barry, pointing a finger at his chest, “you fuckers waited  _ years  _ to tell everybody but me. It's not something that comes up in a normal conversation!  _ Oh, and by the way, I fucking died. _ No, don't worry, I got better! ”

This time a few sparks quickly rushed down his fingers and as Taako rubbed his arms to make them disappear. Barry pursed his lips and gave him a look as if to say “I told you so”.

“Shut up! I can spark all I want, I'm in my room!” he raised his voice before crashing back on the mattress, one hand dramatically over his eyes.

Barry sighed and put the stack of books on the desk, careful not to crush or ruin the feathers. “Look, I need to talk to you about...” he paused, licking his lips while looking for the right words. He turned around a chair and sat down, to face Taako although the elf had once again disappeared under the covers. “In the first vision, Lup’s soul-”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Taako cut him off immediately. “She was fine in  _ the last _ vision, that world is what we're gonna get.”

“I know,” Barry smiled. “But it’s still a possible future, a hint to her whereabouts. If the Bond Engine couldn’t bring her soul back, it means she’s  _ trapped  _ somewhere even the Engine couldn’t get to.”

The fact that he was smiling probably tipped Taako off because he was frowning when he sat back up. “And that is good how?”

“Well,” he tentatively smiled. “It means she’s not  _ gone, _ Taako. It means...I had almost lost hope, you know? Almost accepted that there was a way for a lich to die.”

Taako frowned, pulling his legs to his chest. He himself had fought with that same idea for  _ months _ , learning she was still somewhere was heartwarming but the sight of her lifeless body in the vision echoed the moment he found her skeleton in Wave Echo Cave and it had hurt him more than he showed.

She was going to be alright, he told himself, focusing to the vision of her on the beach. They were going to be alright.

-

Carey slipped inside the Voidfish chamber unnoticed by the single sleepy guard.

The Bureau of Balance was emptier and quieter lately: several people had left after the reveal of the Red Robes, unhappy with Lucretia and scared, and others later, unhappy with how Killian tried to turn the Bureau into an aggressive organization and discouraged by the former Madame Director’s outlandish escape.

Killian had never been unnecessarily aggressive before she started wearing that blasted gauntlet. The Reclaimers, Davenport and Lucretia were officially branded as the enemy - they even put up bounties with the help of the Neverwinter government- and went into hiding. Killian was angrier every day and Carey didn't know how to help.

The chamber she walked in wasn't silent at all. There was a weird music in the air: she recognized Johann’s fiddle, but there was another sound, like a loud hum or vibration.

The Voidfish was singing. Carey stepped forward, silently, mouth open in wonder as she listened to Johann harmonizing the sounds it made with his violin. He looked happy, or at least happier than she'd seen him lately.

“How long has it been doing that?” she finally asked when the bard, probably tired.

“A few days,” Johann replied, showing that he'd noticed her approaching. “Uhm, since...the breakout.”

Carey cocked her head to a side. That was a weird coincidence. “Really?” she wondered, raising her head to observe the Voidfish.

It looked  _ excited, _ dancing and twirling and repeating those same four notes over and as Carey squinted and approached the tank she realized something was moving between his tentacles.

A tiny wooden duck.

And another small voidfish.

Carey was no bard, but between her mother and brother she had enough musical knowledge to distinguish the four notes played on repeat.

B A B E

“Shit! Johann!” she called suddenly. The bard jumped, surprised, and almost dropped his violin.

“What?!” he looked understandably annoyed.

“Do you see that?” she pointed at the smaller Voidfish. No doubt about it, it was the one that had been sealed away in the Director’s secret room. She'd been there when Taako attacked Lucretia and the latter asked her to fetch some ichor from there. She would have been a fool not to keep a bit of the ichor Lucretia ordered her to collect for herself, but no memories came back so she dismissed its existence until then.

Johann squinted. “That's Magnus’ duck. It's been in there a while.”

Carey ran towards the tap and filled a vial of ichor. Johann looked at her with a puzzled expression when she handed it to him.

“Trust me,” she insisted, “Drink it.”

Johann shrugged and drank. As soon as he did, he was able to focus back on the tank. He blinked, leaned forward and then- “How long has that been there?!”

“Since the breakout, I guess,” Carey echoed him, with a smirk. Talk about hiding a book in a library .

“Oh,” Johann realized, “I guess that explains its beha-” he froze suddenly. “Oh!”

“What’s wrong?” Carey put a hand on his shoulder, worried.

“A scientific mission...he talked about  _ the end of the world  _ in eleven- shit, how long ago was that?” he rambled. “There’s no much time.”

“For what?”

“We have to stop Killian.”

Carey shook her head in shock and confusion. “What?”

“She's wrong, we were all wrong!” Johann exclaimed. “And we’re all in grave danger.”

-

Despite its name, it was snowing in Neverwinter when Taako teleported in an alley adjacent to the Great Opera Theatre that Kravitz choose as a location for their...date? It was still weird to think it as a date, given the circumstances, and Taako almost bailed on the whole thing. He would’ve stayed on the Starblaster, nervous-cooking all night if Barry hadn’t literally  _ pushed _ him on the teleportation circle. Taako spotted Kravitz leaning on one of the columns at the theatre’s entrance, wearing a sharp tuxedo with a sapphire blue cravat -  _ hot damn _ \- and several items of jewelry Taako could’ve sworn he stole from his own closet.

Grinning without being able to stop himself, he walked up to him from behind and opened the Umbrastaff to use it as an actual umbrella to shield him from the snow.

“To be completely honest, I didn't think you'd dress up,” he announced himself just as Kravitz realized the snow had stopped falling. The snowflakes on his head and clothes weren’t melting but neither were those on Taako - weird, but he assumed it was because of the freezing Alturiak weather. They’d dry themselves up once they got inside the building.

Kravitz turned around, with an awkward but genuine smile that made Taako’s heart flutter in a way that  _ definitely _ took him by surprise. “Well, I couldn't exactly come in my work clothes.” Kravitz laughed. “You-” he looked up and down at the elf, wearing an elegant red jumpsuit that left his back open and black high-heels, and his smile went wider, “look amazing.”

Taako grinned. “It takes effort to look this good! No, wait-” he paused for dramatic effect, then smiled smugly, “it doesn't!”

Kravitz chuckled, then turned around to face the entrance. “I admit, your request took me off guard. I'm not used to this kind of things, I hope this place is to your liking!”

“Uhm,” Taako pensively looked at the entrance. “I usually prefer to be on the stage if you know what I mean, but this could be interesting. Let's go!”

He sauntered forward. Kravitz stayed behind, looked at a raven, perched on a tree branch not too far away from him, and nodded.

-

Earlier that morning, before they met in the city, Taako had actually given him a full tour of the Starblaster, or at least tried to, when Lucretia interrupted them, asking Taako to come for a meeting in the common room.

After briefly introducing Lucretia and Davenport to Kravitz, the woman opened a rolled up paper on the table. “I had just recovered the Bulwark Staff with the help of a friend, a sorcerer named Cam, when I received this.” She pointed at the piece of paper: a flyer advertising for a place called Wonderland, a jeweled bell was depicted on the front.

“That's my Bell,” Barry pointed at the drawing. “What's Wonderland?”

“Looks like a casino or pleasurable place, by design,” Taako commented. Kravitz was staring at the paper with his brows knitted together like he was barely containing himself to rip it apart.

Angus, after asking for permission, grasped the paper and examined it, under the lens of a magnifying glass. “Magic in origin,” he announced after a few seconds, “conjured, or more likely transmuted. The texture is too regular, as if it's something made to look like paper instead of actual paper.”

Davenport smirked, eyes darting to Taako who was also smiling fondly. “He’s a bright kid,” he said, just under his breath.

“I know,” Taako replied in a similar way.

“The place it guided us to,” Lucretia continued, heedless to the short exchange. “Wonderland, is most mysterious in nature. We’d investigated it before going inside, of course. We camped outside and asked questions to those who walked in or out.” She bit her lip. “Those who came out of Wonderland were either on the verge of death or incredibly satisfied, but everyone gave us a different version of the trials waiting for us inside.”

“So what did you see exactly?” Julia asked.

Lucretia sighed, clutching her hands together. “Inside, me and Cam faced a series of hardships. Two voices told us we were going to have to sacrifice what was holding us back if we wanted to get the Bell. The two of us were put against each other in a series of increasingly difficult games - card draw, checkers, chess, poker - and everytime we lost something in the game we were asked to sacrifice something of equal value…”

“You've been saying that a lot, what do you mean by sacrifice?” Angus leaned forward.

“We lost,” her hands were trembling, “many things. Cam had body parts taken from him, while I sacrificed less physical things. Those of you who knew me before know I look older than I should, I lost 20 years of my life in that game of chess.”

“Wait, so you played for 20 years or…?” Merle looked confused.

“They were taken from me, in a moment, by means of a magic I couldn't identify.”

Barry looked pensive. “The Animus Bell can... _ scry _ into someone’s soul, see what matters to them and ultimately grant control over that very soul. A sacrifice like that would’ve been part of some ritual they tricked you into, is not something the Bell’s power would allow. It’s possible that whoever’s running the operation just  _ has _ it in their collection. What else did you sacrifice?”

“Some of my dexterity, the ability to write with my right hand, the memory of my parents’ faces, the ability to see colors, some magic items I had brought with me. But sacrificing isn't all there is to Wonderland,” she continued, ignoring the pitiful and horrified looks the group was giving her. “We had a game round, then we were brought in a room where they made us choose whether to trust or forsake another group of challengers, then we faced several deadly challenges - monsters, labyrinths, traps - and then we were tossed back into the sacrificing.”

“How…” Magnus looked positively shaken. “How did you escape?”

“I...I betrayed Cam.” She said simply. “In a variant of the trust/forsake game, I convinced him to trust me and I forsook him, this allowed me to escape but he was trapped for eternity.”

Taako whistled. “Harsh.”

“I walked out of Wonderland and realized that in my state I wasn't going to be able to survive alone, in the Felicity Wilds. Luck came to me in the form of a mercenary: she saved my life asking for nothing in return and in exchange I inoculated her and told her what I was after. I- I didn’t want to get blamed, to lose her support, though, so I told her a fake, a different story. A story I'd build the Bureau around.”

“The Red Robes,” Taako snickered. “That merc was Killian, right?”

Lucretia nodded. “I knew where the Bell was and I've kept investigating Wonderland, but I didn't have the heart to send you or anyone else in that wretched place!”

“Well,” Barry sighed. “The Scouts appeared on Midsummer, so I'd say we still have about four months to restore the Light. We can't barge into Wonderland without knowing what's waiting for us in there, or  _ if  _ the bell is actually in that place. What do you say, kiddo?” he turned towards Angus, “Sounds like an interesting case?”

Angus’ face lit up.

-

It was some kind of special occasion: a lord of the city had died recently and his young inexperienced son had risen to power. The Theatre was crowded with members of the high classes and nobility of Neverwinter and honestly Taako couldn't explain how Kravitz had gotten a hold of the invitation.

The show was nothing especially great, a group of amateurs hired to perform a tragedy that, because of their incompetence was more awkward and funny than moving. It was obvious the nobleman chose them especially to laugh at them, but the young actor playing the heroine stood out for his incredible talent and actually managed to make the crowd cry with his last monologue, surprising everyone.

The following reception was immediately great once Taako realized there was a gambling table. Kravitz feared for the poor scions of nobility once the elf approached them and proposed a new and more exciting way of playing that didn't involve betting ridiculously high amounts of money. A few hours later, half of the attendees where shoeless - some of them tossed their shoes believing it to be a new trend after spotting their new Lord in such a state.

“You look like you're having fun,” Kravitz commented as Taako slipped a last pair of silver rimmed boots into his bag of holding.

“Yep,” he nodded, popping the word. “The play wasn't half bad either.”

“So it wasn't a complete failure?” he grinned.

A man in a suit held out a tray with champagne glasses, both of them took one.

“Mmh,” Taako mused, rubbing his chin, “I'll give you a solid B, B minus. Not bad for a first date.

Kravitz almost choked on the champagne, “First?”

“Well, of course,” Taako smiled and took a sip. He immediately made a face and discretely spit it back in the glass. “Weird taste.” Kravitz glared at him and cautiously put down his glass as well.

The young lord who was hosting the party started tapping a fork against the glass and raised it in the air. “To a prosperous new future for Highwi-Neverwinter!”

Several “Cheers” came from around the room and everyone but Kravitz, Taako and the servants all around the room drank to that wish.

“Was he going to say Highwinter?” Taako murmured, incredulous, Kravitz chuckled.

A few seconds after the toast, a woman in the back of the room wobbled on her feet and fainted. Those who approached to help also started reeling and clutching their heads.

Taako perked up and frowned. “The hell?”

Kravitz frowned but didn't look surprised. The servants weren't either, as they started to move around to close all the exits, dropping their trays - one even slammed a shrimp tray on the unconscious young lord’s head.

It took them a couple of minutes to realize the two elves were still standing, at which point a small group menacingly surrounded them, pointing their wands and daggers.

“Welp,” Taako raised his hands.

Kravitz stood still and calm, eyes darting from one face to the other until finally, with a flick of the wrist he summoned his book of bounties and the gears in Taako's head clicked .

“Oh, for fuck's sake ! I can't believe it! This was work?!” he lowered his arms, testily tapping his foot.

“Sorry,” Kravitz sheepishly looked up, “I wasn't sure. My bounty isn't here though, I'm looking for a woman called Madame Shiram Kistel?” he raised his voice to speak directly to the crowd surrounding them.

“The Lady Magica isn't going to appear just to  appease you pitiful abetters!” A young drow announced proudly. “Her work is too important to be disturbed by two sacrifices that won't fall asleep!”

“Will you shut the fuck up, Gerry?” an elder man on his left shouted.

“Oh, so we're sacrifices, intriguing.” Taako deadpanned. “Hey Krav, should I wait outside?” He asked, pointing a thumb at the exit.

“Actually,” Kravitz closed the book, that disappeared. “Do you want to help me?”

After a moment of surprise, Taako grinned slowly, a rush of adrenaline surging in his veins, making his fingers twitch. “Hell yeah? It's been too fucking long since I was able to go all out!” he stretched his arms, sparks dancing up his fingertips.

Kravitz smiled and summoned his scythe. “Just don't kill anyone. I'll be in trouble otherwise.”

“Yes siree,” Taako twirled the Umbrastaff around his wrist and channeled his first spell.

-

Barry and Angus were in the ship’s laboratory, browsing through the books loaned from the library, when Davenport knocked on the doorjamb, catching their attention.

“Can you spare me a minute?”

“Sure, Captain!” Barry turned around, dog-earring the page of the book before closing it.

Davenport dragged a seat and climbed on it, facing the two with his arms crossed. “I’ve meaning to ask you what, er- what the  _ fuck  _ was up with Taako since you came on board, but there was no opening or moment to do it before now and he seems to have  _ vanished _ from the ship.”

Barry winced. Oh, so this was a harsh worried captain moment time and not a Dadenport time, great. He fully dismissed his work and took a deep breath before facing him. “Just- just to make this clear. I’d like to tell you but I also think it’s Taako’s choice.”

Angus nodded, observing the interaction with keen eyes.

“I figured, but to make an omelette you’ve got to break a few legs, so I tried to find out on my own,” he took out a small journal from his bag of holding. “Also I found this in the common area.”

Angus’ eyes widened and he immediately started searching his desk.

“Sorry, kiddo, had to take a look inside.”

Barry frowned, turning to Angus. “Is it yours?”

The kid nodded, lips pressed together and eyes opened wide.

“What’s inside it?” Barry asked with urgency.

Davenport held out the notebook, inviting Angus to pick it up. “An investigation on  _ us, _ closed recently,” he explained with a wry smile, while Angus walked up to him to take his notebook back. “And among the other things, notes on the effects of lichdom.”

“I’m not teaching him necromancy!” Barry said quickly, eyes darting between him and the boy. “Gods, no, that’s- no! He just happened to be present.”

“I assumed as much,” Davenport deadpanned. “I might ask  _ who _ you were teaching about that, though, but that’s an obvious answer.”

Barry hunched his shoulders. “Yeah…”

Davenport’s expression was still severe but definitely more worried now that his suspicions were confirmed. “So, what happened in the Woven Gulch?”

-

There was an old catacomb right underneath the Opera House and that cult -  _ of course _ it was a cult - was attempting to use the attendees as ‘noble sacrifices’.

Fighting side by side with Kravitz was... _ interesting _ to say the least. It was impossible to say what class he was or used to be, he faced his opponents with both his scythe - but never striking them down with the blade - and calling the Raven Queen’s help to cast spells.

Taako, since he promised not to get too carried away, couldn’t really go  _ all out _ like he wished but, damn if he didn’t try his best. He even pulled out one of his favourite polymorph forms: Dupree The Tyrannosaurus Rex, if just to see Kravitz’s face. And it was  _ worth it. _

None of the cultists were killed, but that didn’t mean they weren’t harmed, and soon there was a cacophony of shouts echoing in the crypt as they screamed for help or attempted to run away. While Kravitz was busy handling a bunch of foes, it was Taako who first found his way to a smaller grotto where the leader of the cult was still attempting to finish an incantation.

She was a beautiful human woman in her early thirties, who was attempting to resurrect a feared King of the past to become his lover after conversing with his soul through necromantic means. Talk about putting the romantic in necromantic, but the fact remained that said King was locked in the stockade for previous similar attempts to return to life and he was a powerful sorcerer capable of destroying Neverwinter with a flick of the wrist.

Barry would have still found it romantic.

Taako as Dupree roared to distract her from her work, and she jumped, stumbling back against the wall, staring at the beast with wide open eyes, while Taako shifted back to his real form and stepped into the cave, destroying the glowing magic glyphs on the wall with a simple Magic Missile.

“That should be enough,” he smiled at the woman, who was staring at her work destroyed with an expression of pure grief. “Seriously, girl, don’t snog dead dudes, and I can’t believe  _ I _ am the one telling you th-”

The woman lunged towards him, holding some kind of sacrificial knife as a weapon and slashing it down. Taako stepped back, stumbling, a moment too late as the blade sliced through his suit and opened a large diagonal gash from his shoulder to his chest.

Immediately, he lifted up the arm he was holding the Umbrastaff with - did it move on its own? Or more likely, he acted instinctively - and cast one of the spells Barry taught him before he could lose too much blood.

A tendril of inky darkness reached out from the tip of the Umbrastaff, centering the woman straight in her chest, sucking lifeforce out of her and -  _ holy shit _ . Taako’s wound started knitting close but it was such a different sensation from when Merle would - rarely - cast a healing spell on him. It wasn’t just the woman’s lifeforce who got to him, as soon as the spell took hold, he  _ knew _ how terrified, anxious and in pain she was. And it  _ delighted _ him, it was pure adrenaline rushing through his veins.

He wouldn’t have stopped channeling the spell, not even when the woman curled up against a corner, shivering and sobbing, if Kravitz hadn’t caught up to him. “She doesn't need to suffer any longer, let me finish this,” he told him slowly, but  _ carefully _ as if he was walking on eggshells.

“Uh?!” Taako made a face, without looking at him, eyes still planted on the woman. “Why?”

“Are you enjoying this?”

“I'm-” he froze at Kravitz’s question. He was. The woman's expression - so like Lucretia's when the second prophecy burned in their eyes - danced in front of his eyes and he interrupted the spell, reeling backwards, shaking his head. This was wrong. This wasn't him. “No.”

When Taako finally looked up at him, frowning in confusion and demanding an explanation, Kravitz just smiled. “It's gonna be alright. I’ll take care of the rest.” With a hand on Taako’s shoulder, he pushed him back and walked towards the woman, still weeping in fear.

“Madame Shiram Kistel, a.k.a, the Lady Magica,” Kravitz shifted to his skeletal form and summoned his glowing book, reading from it. “You are guilty of the crimes of necromancy, thralling of living creatures and attempting to summon the soul of King Amadeus from the Astral Plane. Your sentence is imprisonment in the Eternal Stockade.” He slammed the book shut as soon as he finished reading, and with a swipe of his scythe he cleanly cut through the woman's figure. The flesh remained intact but a cold light emerged from her chest as her body slumped to the ground, eyes still open but lifeless. Kravitz created a rift to the Astral Plane and grabbed the woman's soul, dragging it with him through.

The rift closed. Taako, left alone with the woman's corpse, fell to his knees like a doll whose strings had been cut. The weird adrenaline rush subsided, leaving him a feeling of emptiness and a creeping  _ cold _ that made him shiver.

When Kravitz came back, Taako barely realized he was being teleported away.

-

“Very well,” the Raven Queen smiled from her throne of darkness in the Divine Plane.

Kravitz held still, waiting for her response.

“I'll make him the same offer I made to you.”

-

“I- I cannot become your anchor, Taako,” Kravitz confessed once they retreated from the party into a cafeteria in the high class neighborhood of Neverwinter. “I appreciate you considering me, but I can't, not in such a short time.”

“I get it,” Taako murmured, fidgeting with his own hair. A cup of hot coffee sat on the table in front of him, untouched.

“But I want to help you,” Kravitz continued. He hesitantly at first then more decisively lifted Taako's chin to look him in the eyes. “Tonight was necessary for my Queen to evaluate you.”

Kravitz saw the exact moment the meaning of those words sank in. “What the fuck!” Taako flinched, moving away from his hand.

Kravitz sighed. “Taako, in Refuge-” he started, lowering his voice. “It slipped, but I told you that you were like me.” He paused, waiting for an answer that didn't arrive.

Taako just narrowed his eyes.

“I- it was a long time ago. I was... sick, really sick. My brother and sister tried everything to cure me and eventually turned to Necromancy: if they couldn't heal my body, they'd try to make my soul untouchable.”

Taako inhaled sharply, eyes widening as he understood where the story was going.

“The Ceremony they forced me to perform was gruesome and nothing like the one you know. I remember nothing from after I rose, I just know that I soon ended up in the Eternal Stockade, where I stayed for  _ ages  _ until the Raven Queen appeared to me.”

Taako leaned forward, caught in the story, mouth and eyes open in disbelief. Kravitz was a lich.  _ Kravitz was a lich. _ It made so much sense: why he was bound to the Astral Plane, invisible to most people, how he was able to possess and create golems on Lucas’ laboratory. Barry was gonna lose his head.

“I was changed against my will, and in her eyes I had no sin except being unlucky. She has other Bounty Hunters at her service - paladins and warlocks who devoted themselves to her and thus obtained her favour. These people are still mortal and bound to the Prime Material Plane, they're not like me. I was the only Reaper at her service.” He grinned. “Taako, she's offering you the same deal! When your lifespan is over and you’ll have to give up your mortal body, she'll give you a new one, like mine! In exchange you’ll work for her, be sworn to her service, but you’ll be  _ stable. _ ”

Taako’s face lit up.

“It’s a good compromise, I think?”

Taako thought about it for a moment, frowned, opened his mouth and closed it a few times before replying. “I need to think about it.”

“Of course!” Kravitz nodded enthusiastically. “Months, years, they are but the blink of an eye to my Queen. Just know that your decision will be final!”

Taako clutched the Umbrastaff. The vision, the beach, Lup. Lup, whose body had crumbled to dust in Wave Echo Cave. Lup, standing under the sun, laughing and splashing water at them. The pieces of the puzzle were falling together. “A package deal.”

“I'm sorry?”

Taako looked up. “You offer the same deal to Lup, when we find her, and I'm game. We're a package deal.”

“I'm-” Kravitz's smile faltered, “It's not my decision.”

Taako just stared in his eyes like he was trying to stab him with his gaze.

“But I’ll make a request,” Kravitz was quick to add.

“Thank you,” Taako finally relaxed and grabbed his cup, taking a sip of coffee. he immediately made a face and discretely spit it back in the cup. “Cold.”

Kravitz laughed.


	35. more than kin, and less than kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A little more than kin and less than kind._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 2_

Taako teleported back on the ship a few hours later, having waited for a time when he could reasonably assume everyone else was asleep: he hadn’t talked about his plan to anyone but Barry and he seriously didn’t feel like explaining it, especially now that it went in such a different direction than he expected.

_ Taako from TV, _ a Grim Reaper? The thought was alien and uncomfortable, but it was a reasonable solution to the mess he’d found himself into. Even so, he’d rather not think about it right now: he needed to go to his room, toss - and possibly burn - the forever ruined jumpsuit and get some  _ sleep. _

Unfortunately, Taako realized his plan of being subtle was doomed from the start when he spotted Davenport, patiently waiting and  _ awake _ in a chair in front of the teleportation circle. The gnome stared him down with a raised eyebrow for a good half a minute before speaking. “You’re a mess,” he simply said.

Taako shrugged and flashed him a nonchalant grin. “Things happened. Hey, guess who's just been on a da~ate!”

Davenport rolled his eyes. “Must have been one  _ hell _ of a date. I’m glad you had fun, but I have some questions for you.”

Taako grinned. “Sure. But lemme warn you, I'm a little bit tipsy, so I can guarantee that my answers will be as straight as I am!”

Davenport sighed, Taako had no doubt he was able to see through this lame half-assed act of his, but it was worth a try. If anything else, to try to annoy him and get him to let him go.

It didn’t work.

“I already know part of the story but I need to know from you what actually happened in Refuge.”

Taako grimaced. “Aw, shit,” he threw his head back with a long groan, passing a hand on his face. “Look, I- I don't wanna talk about it.”

“You’d better, because I need some answers.  _ Especially _ if you’re coming back in the middle of the night with tattered and bloody clothes.”

Taako looked down at himself.  _ Wow, he was  _ a mess. “This isn’t- it’s just my blood, ok?” he shrugged. “I got better,” he added quickly.

Davenport looked at him like he was having none of that bullshit.

“Look, I’m fine,” Taako snapped. “If you want the details, ask Barold or something. Hey, did you know that if you take the O and the L away, Barold becomes Bard? We've never had a Bard in our team, who do you think-” he trailed off, laughing.

Davenport’s glare was enough to cut him off.

“I get it,” Taako sighed, smile falling from his lips. “He ratted me out?”

Davenport smirked. “I might have pushed his hand. I knew there was something wrong from the moment you boarded the ship.”

Taako winced. “Hachi machi,” he just said, looking at his feet. Had he really been so transparent?

“I'm your Captain, don't take me for a fool.”

Taako smiled, eyes still on the ground.

“You don't have to tell me everything. I just want to know whether you're dangerous to the other members of the crew.”

Taako cringed, taken aback by such a direct approach. “Dangerous.” He repeated, then let out a little nervous laugh. “I- I guess, yeah, kinda, sorta- yeah.” He found himself floundering, unable to give a direct reply. Thinking about the adrenaline kick he got earlier upon torturing that woman made his stomach churn. “Not that I want, or like to, I’d- I-”

“Breathe. Sit down.” Davenport’s voice cut through his chaotic stream of thought. Taako made an effort to step out of the circle and grab a chair to sit in front of him. “I apologize,” Davenport spoke again when Taako seemed to have relaxed a bit. “I imagine it’s not easy, right?”

“Right,” Taako echoed him weakly.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but this is a conversation that we need to have,” Davenport poured two glasses of honey-colored liquid from a square glass bottle on the table and let one of them slid to Taako, who grasped it but didn’t drink.

“I know.”

“So?” Davenport encouraged him. “What happened?”

Taako’s hand twitched for a moment. “It was out of necessity. According to Barry- no, screw that, _I was_ dying. I fucked up so bad _I was dying_ and-” Deep breath. His nose started to burn - _gods damn it_ _don’t cry_ , he didn’t need to be pitied _again._ He opened his mouth to continue but realized he forgot where he was going with that and cursed under his breath.

“Recalling how you felt towards Barry and Lup’s decision, I can’t imagine you’d go through the Ceremony of your own volition.” Davenport tried to help.

“I didn’t,” Taako was quick to reply, and immediately bit his tongue. “I wasn’t even- even…” he snapped his fingers a couple of times, as if looking for a word that kept slipping just out of his reach. “Awake, I just told you I was almost...dead. No- uh,  _ ba’talas _ is-” he squeezed his eyes shut. He just wanted to go to sleep, why was it so hard to string his words right when he needed them most. “Soul-dead,” he tried an approximate translation. “Not body-dead, I mean- I would’ve turned anyway, Barry said. It was the last resort.” He tiredly passed his hands over his face. “ _ Gods, _ that makes no sense, scratch that. I’m too tired to deal with this shit, let alone explain...”

Davenport nodded. “Are you grounded right now?”

“Grounded? Oh…” Taako chuckled. “Mostly? Kinda? I thought so, but then tonight I fucked up again.” His throat seized and his next words didn’t come out.  _ Did he, _ though? Was that normal? Should he ask Barry before making any more disasters?

Davenport nodded and took a sip out of the glass. “Get a good night of sleep, then  _ talk to someone _ . We made a point of telling Lucretia she didn’t have to work alone, don’t be like her. We saw a vision of the future where we can  _ win _ , a  _ possible _ future where everything turns out well, let’s not miss that out of a few fears.”

Taako nodded quickly and with a swift movement, gulped down the entire content of the glass. Davenport couldn’t suppress a chuckle at Taako’s scrunched face and raspberry when he drank the liquor.

“Tastes weird,” Taako justified himself. “I’ve been unlucky with drinks all night.”

Davenport raised an eyebrow, “It's a smoked ale from Goldcliff, tastes completely fine by me,” he took another sip.

Taako blinked, looked at the glass, looked at Davenport and it expression slowly brightened as it slowly dawned on him: the ridiculous turn of events that saved him from drinking soporific champagne.

He slammed the glass down, shot up on his feet and bolted towards the living quarters, kicking open the door to his and Barry’s room.

“Barold! Holy fuck!”

Nothing he drank that night had tasted like Key Lime GoGurt.

-

Angus McDonald knew that there were disadvantages to being a child detective: it took a while for people to take him seriously and even if he had tried to build a name for himself, most of those who heard it expected an adult. At the same time, though, his apparent age was a  _ huge _ advantage during the actual investigations.

People didn’t listen to kids, but most people didn’t think kids listened to them either. So Angus could sit in any inn or tavern, appropriately close to some adult that passerbys would assume he was with them, and all he had to do was  _ listen _ .

This way, it didn't take long for Angus to track down someone who'd allegedly been to Wonderland. He dragged Barry to the pub as soon as he heard the information that the Wonderland survivor was still there: telling a small crowd in the inn about the treasure he managed to get his hands on. He was missing an eye and an arm but looked positively joyous as Barry sneaked into the crowd to get a closer look.

Angus sat on the counter, examining the man from afar with his repertoire of Divination spells Taako and Davenport had made an effort in teaching him. He enjoyed their lessons but he knew he might have a chance to learn more if only they didn’t treat it as a competition of sort.

“I'll tell you! Riches like no other! And for a few meager sacrifices I was able to get my hands on my heart's desire! Rubies, sapphires, enough gold to buy Goldcliff!” The adventurer continued, catching Angus’ attention once again.

“And where's this gold now?” Barry, who managed to get in front of him, asked.

“Well hidden, my good friend!” the man turned around, a weird glint in his eyes. “There's plenty still in Wonderland, if you're ready to face the challenge!”

From his position, Angus used the Detect Magic he’d been preparing for a while on the crowd and the room. There were a few faint auras on some objects and clothes and the satchel of some dirty beggar drinking soup on his own, but nothing around the Wonderland survivor shone with magical properties: the man didn't have any magic item on him, and an Insight check didn't reveal anything interesting either: he was telling the truth, or at least what he thought was the truth.

Detect Thoughts was next, and although Angus was pretty confident in his capabilities, everyone warned him against prying into his target’s most inner thoughts. Not because it was immoral and highly illegal - when had that stopped any of them, after all? - but in the case the target nailed a saving throw, the spell could put Angus in severe danger.   
The man was not only happy, the spell revealed. He was  _ delighted, _ joyful and surprisingly a little  _ bored. _ He didn’t particularly enjoy what he was doing, and the source of his happiness was probably somewhere else - the alleged treasure? - but then  _ why _ would he linger in that tavern. There was something else, something that made Angus’ skin crawl, something dark and undefined just below his surface emotions the kid didn’t really attempt to examine.

“But what about the challenge itself?” Barry was asking again, just moment before the moving crowd’s pressing questions about the location of Wonderland and the riches drowned the answer and the attendants pushed him back once again. Dejected, Barry caught up with Angus. “Anything?”

“No magic items on him, he’s happy and it doesn't seem like he's lying. Maybe he's charmed?”

Barry nodded, “Good call!” He put a hand on Angus’ shoulder and cast a spell. The boy's vision shifted, new colors appearing on his field of view. “I just cast True Seeing,” Barry whispered. “Do you see a pink aura around him? If so he's charmed. Red means he's under the compulsion of a Geas, green around his head is a memory alteration spell...uhh, blueish means he's been overshadowed by a fae. I honestly don't remember the rest.”

Angus squinted, there was no colorful aura around the boasting man, but the lights of the room seemed to dim slightly around him. Angus opened his mouth to ask Barry about it but as he turned around he noticed the same effect around Barry himself.

“So? Noticed anything?”

“Let's get outside.” Angus whispered, tense. “I have a theory, but you won't like it.”

Barry frowned and quickly stood up, leading the kid outside with a hand protectively on his shoulder. Angus led them both outside and ducked in the shadows of a nearby building. Despite the late hour, there were still people walking down the street, but they stayed away from the darkness the two of them dived in.

“So, what’s the intel?” Barry crouched near Angus to be at eye-level with him. He could barely see his face but it was obvious that he was worried and cautiously looking around.

It was interesting he could  _ see _ , did he have some kind of Darkvision?

“What are the little guys, sir?” the boy asked, suddenly.

“...the little?”

“There’s a lot of white guys all around us. They don’t seem aggressive, but they’re a little creepy.”

Barry’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Oh, don’t worry about them, they are…” better to avoid talking about the Scouts of the Hunger now, “normal. What else did you see in there?”

“Do you have a way to quickly contact Mr. Kravitz?”

The second questions also took Barry by surprise, as it took him a moment to extract his Stone of Farspeech and looked through the frequencies. It was easier to contact him this way, instead of resorting to the ritual every time, but he still had to ask Taako how the hell he got that frequency from him.

“You hunt liches, right?” Angus asked just as soon as the Reaper appeared in front of them, the rift hadn’t even closed yet.

“Usually, yes.” He glared at Barry. “Your friends are special cases though. Why?”

Angus took a deep breath and clenched his tiny fists. “I think a lich is running Wonderland,” he pointed at the inn he just came out, “and he's possessing a man in there!”

Barry stared at Angus with his mouth wide open, while Kravitz immediately reacted, skin vanishing and leaving him in reaper form as he flew through the wall and into the building. Not even a moment later, shouts and alarmed cries could be heard.

Barry and Angus rushed in, to see the very same crowd as before, clustered around a man now prone and unconscious to the ground. Somebody was calling for a healer. Kravitz stood still in a corner, unnoticed by the crowd.

“What happened?” Barry asked him, making it look like he was asking no one in particular.

Kravitz turned towards Angus, who yelped when the red lights in the skull’s eye sockets pointed at him. Kravitz reeled back and shifted back to his more alive appearance. “You are a bright little boy,” he said, “you were right, but he abandoned the body and flew away as soon as I entered. No point in following him blindly. There's something wrong with that body.”

“Let me guess,” Barry smiled bitterly. “There's no soul inside but it's not technically dead.”

Kravitz looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

“That confirms it's in Wonderland.”

“Your Relic, sir? How are you sure?” Angus wondered, although the tone of his betrayed he already had a suspicion.

“Because that,” he nodded at the man, he was breathing, but his eyes were rolled backwards and was drooling like a beast, “that's something only the Animus Bell can do. Separate a soul from a body without killing it.”

“Abominable,” Kravitz sneered. “If you weren't trying to destroy it yourself I would've already destroyed  _ you  _ for this!”

Barry winced. “It was,” he started slowly, eyes on the ground. “A selfish creation.”

“It's no worse than any other relic.” Angus defended him.

Barry shook his head. “No, I created it with every intention of reclaiming it for myself one day. Elves live for a long time, you see...I didn’t want to grow old and die before Lup, who would have lived for centuries after me.”

As a couple of clerics dragged the empty body out in an attempt to heal him, the inn was once again full of rumors and excited whispers.

“Love doesn’t excuse your horrible intentions,” Kravitz scoffed. “But at least I’m glad  _ you _ have never used it.”

“We know what we're up against. You can help this time, right?” Barry asked Kravitz, who nodded.

“If it's a lich, I probably have a bounty on them.” Kravitz replied vaguely.

“It's gonna be fine,” Barry nodded, confidently. A single lich against a competent team of adventurers, two other liches and an actual Reaper on speed dial? What could go wrong?

-

Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

The Starblaster couldn't land in the woods so Davenport left Taako, Merle, Magnus, Julia, Barry and Lucretia to the edge of the Felicity Wilds. Bless Lucretia and her prodigious memory, she guided them safely through the woods as Davenport and Angus took off to a safer location and kept in contact through their stones of farspeech.

The Felicity Wilds were still covered in a coat of snow that made them look as astonishingly beautiful as they were dangerous. Even in that winter wonderland they had to stay alert and actually fight through a pack of direwolves. But half a dozen direwolves had never met the Burnsides, and when Magnus literally lifted one of them over his head they realized they'd better hunt for food elsewhere.

“I'd heard so many rumors about the Felicity Wilds,” Barry said once they set up camp for the night. Taako and Lucretia had melted and evaporated the snow in a small clearing to allow them to sleep on dry ground. “I guess it's not as bad as I feared.”

Taako roared with laughter. “Classic Barold! You could level this place down, you're still afraid of a couple of dogs!”

Lucretia smiled, “It's kinda nostalgic, isn't it?” she said, warming up her hands around the cup of stew.

They looked around at each other: although Taako and Barry were the only ones still wrapped in their familiar uniform, Lucretia was right, in a way this felt like another cycle, like they just set up to explore a new world. And yet everything about the situation seemed to want to remind them of how different things were.

Nobody answered. Lucretia's smile faltered and disappeared. “I'll take the first turn, take some rest,” she just said next.

It was during Julia's guard that the loud crash woke up the rest of the group. A sphere had just landed a few miles away: the people from the Bureau has probably seen the Starblaster landing to drop them off. It was good that they didn’t know their exact position but they instantly knew they had to be extra careful.

They left camp and departed immediately.

-

Kravitz slid a finger slowly on the page of his book of bounties, almost caressing a couple of names. He'd been postponing this peculiar bounty for centuries, his Queen assuring him he wasn't ready, but if the others - his friends? - didn't know who they were up against they were surely going towards their demise.

“ **You're not ready,** ” The Raven Queen whispered again.

“I don't care,”

“ **They're too strong,** ” she continued.

“I have help.”

“ **You won't be able to enter Wonderland, they won't let you.** ”

“I'll find a way,” he retorted. It was the first time he was so blatantly going against his deity’s wishes, but his uncertainty was putting people he had just started to care about in danger. He couldn’t let that happen.

He didn't catch or follow the lich in Neverwinter, because it took him a glance to recognize Kravitz - even in reaper form - and call him by name.

No, not his name. A little nickname his family had for him such a long time ago.

_ “Keetz.” _

Kravitz's moment of hesitation was enough for Edward to escape and now the IPRE were going to face him and his sister and Kravitz knew it was his fault.

“This time, I'm going to stop them.”

-

As they walked out of the sphere into a patch of crushed snowy trees, Carey couldn't stop eyeing the gauntlet Killian refused to take off. It was obvious to everyone that the Relic was poisoning her mind, fueling her with an unjustified rage towards the former Director and Reclaimers.

According to Johann the Red Robes weren't evil wizards but scientists and they were trying to gather power for a higher purpose. Carey was still skeptical herself but she'd rather corner and talk the truth out of them than attack with murderous intent as Killian seemed determined to do.

Talking to Killian had proved to be counterproductive as well. She'd been screaming at them and accusing them of being charmed. She volunteered to “save” them on her own and it was only thanks to Carey's devoted words that she forgave them and allowed them to follow her.

Carey's plan was risky and relied on luck more than anything, but she and Johann alone weren't going to be able to stop Killian.

-

_ ‘All roads lead to Wonderland,’  _ the flyer quoted, and that proved to be undeniably true once they finally reached the clearing at the first lights of dawn. The giant, cylindrical building stood tall at the center of a clearing where several roads and tracks led. No one else was around.

“Look!” Julia pointed at a billboard where the Animus Bell was depicted. Slowly, the black and white columns on the building started shifting and turning in circles, making it look like an improbable carousel.

Finally the rotations stopped and a door appeared, together with a billboard lit up with their six names.

“Barry,” Lucretia stepped towards the door, “The Light cannot be allowed into Wonderland, you understand that.”

Barry gripped the staff and then, with a sigh, and trying to ignore Magnus’ glare, he handed it to her. “I need to be in there,” he said, “and she's right,” he turned to Magnus and Julia, “we can't allow the Staff to get in there too.”

“I'll stay with her,” Julia said. “I know you'll never allow me to enter anyway,” she smiled at Magnus, who relaxed with relief.

Barry nodded, then took out the sapphire Stone of Farspeech that Kravitz gave to him. “We've arrived, you there?”

“I'll be in a moment,” he answered, he sounded like he was in a hurry and there were screams and noises in the background.

“Just be safe, darling!” Taako flopped himself over Barry's shoulders and called at the stone. Kravitz muttered something unintelligible, flustered.

Taako grinned despite the weirded out - and, in Barry's case, annoyed -  looks he was getting from the rest of the group.

A faint, pounding tune started playing from the door, as if it wanted to call out to them.

Magnus kissed his wife, then walked to the door and waved his hand inside: it disappeared as if it was engulfed in some kind of thick fog.

Taako catched up, studying its surface too.  “Yeah, this looks kinda sketchy, maybe we should think about it before we rush in- and he's gone.”

“Might as well make sure he doesn't die,” Merle briefly nodded at Lucretia and followed suit.

“I don't know, this still feels like a trap-” Taako started, but Magnus’ arm emerged from the darkness and grabbed him. “Son of a bitch-”

Barry walked towards the door, he paused for a moment and turned around, “‘Back Soon’, I hope,” he said, in the direction of the two women, and approached the darkness.

Before he could enter, though, a large, incredibly fast, flaming dart pierced right through his leg. Barry fell sideways, shouting in pain, as Julia and Lucretia turned towards the direction it came from.

From another entrance to the clearing, Killian, Carey and Johann had just walked out of the forest. Killian was holding her crossbow, except it was enveloped in flames, along with the gauntlet she wore. Being magic in source, the fire didn't seem to harm the wood, and it didn't show signs of diminishing even on the the arrow piercing Barry's leg.

“Hand over the Staff. Now!” Killian pointed the crossbow at Lucretia, who immediately tapped the staff on the ground, summoning a shimmering dome around herself, Julia and Barry.

The latter, forehead beaded with sweat, grabbed the arrow and cried in pain as he broke it and extracted it from the wound. When he threw the flaming sticks aside, the palms of his hands were blistering. He struggled to extract his wand and cast a spell. As he did, a tendril of inky darkness shot out of it and through the barrier, piercing Killian through the chest. The orc woman screamed, as Barry’s wounds started closing.

In seeing this, Carey jumped forward, dagger slashing at the barrier and tongues of blue fire escaping her fangs. Killian dropped the crossbow and, with the hand she was wearing the Gauntlet on, she tore through the tendril of necromantic energy and Lucretia’s barrier, destroying them both.

Lucretia stepped back and summoned another barrier, smaller, thicker, around herself and Julia only. “Barry, go!” She called.

Barry nodded and bolted towards Wonderland, only to stop immediately once he realized that the entrance was gone.

-

“Fucking amazing!” Taako clapped his hands as the two elves finished voguing and reached the circular platform. Magnus gave him a weirded out look: he got it that the place’s aesthetics appealed to Taako’s tastes, but not even a minute earlier he’d been freaking out because the entrance disappeared before Barry followed them in and now he was all starry eyed and giddy as a schoolgirl on a date.

“You made it,” the male elf said. “Welcome to Wonderland!”

“Hopefully you didn’t have too much trouble navigating the wilds!” the female elf added. On the platform below them, despite the number of light source, they weren’t projecting any shadow.

Suddenly, they were gone. The male elf appeared from behind Taako, the hand on his shoulder was weightless, but the contact with him felt like prickling static through the fabric. “Are you excited for your quest’s end? Whatever you seek, you shall find in Wonderland!’

Taako beamed, “I wasn’t before but I’m getting pretty jived now!”

Magnus opened his mouth to call Taako out on his weird attitude, when the female elf took him by surprise, appearing from behind him.

“It’s not gonna come easy, though, dear,” she continued, unperturbed by the man’s exclamation of surprise. “Are you prepared for that?”

She bat her eyelashes, waiting for a response, Magnus just stared and looked at her up and down before asking “Are you guys holograms?”

“What’s that?” the male elf wondered.

“Are you holo- are you illusions?”

The pair looked at each other and started laughing. “When we look this good, does it really matter?” she asked, winked and posed one more time.

“No! Shut the fuck up!” Taako exclaimed at Magnus, who mouthed a silent What? and glanced at Merle, who looked as perplexed as him.

With a pirouette, the hosts of Wonderland climbed back up on the platform. “The rules are simple. You will be evaluated through a series of tests and games in order to determine the extent to which you truly want your prize.”

“What kind of tests?” Merle wondered. That was the real question, since Lucretia had said the experience had varied from person to person.

“In a moment,” the female elf put a finger in front of her lips. “The tests will be rough, but they’re important. In Wonderland you can only find the things you truly desire by losing the things that hold you back. You follow the rules of the tests, you push through the pain, and you will leave here happy!”

_ You push through the pain _ didn’t sound comforting.

The male elf continued. “You break the rules, you try to find shortcuts, and you won’t leave here…happy. Ready to get started?”

Taako stepped forward, leaning on the platform with his eyes wide open and a grin on his face. “I have one question!”

“Shoot,” the hosts looked at him.

“Are you guys taking applications, or like what’s the story  _ vis a vis _ employment? I have skills, whatever. Several references; these dunces. Others that are de-”

“Ok,” Magnus grabbed Taako’s shoulders and pulled him back, away from the platform and the elves. Taako struggled briefly, then just glared at Magnus when he realized it was pointless. “Hey, Taako, what the fuck?”

“What?”

“We came here for the Bell, remember?” he lowered his voice to a whisper. “What are you getting carried away for?”

Taako didn’t reply, his eyes darting past Magnus to look at the center of the room. Now that Magnus was closer he started to notice a few details were off. His pupils were dilated and his hands twitching, as he kept looking past him at the platform.

“Holy shit, you’re  _ not _ well,” Magnus stated, concerned.

“What are you talking about?” Taako’s eyes returned to focus to Magnus face. “I feel  _ great,  _ holy shit. I have no idea what’s going on in here but I love it. This place is amazing!” he laughed, slipping away from Magnus’ hold and waltzing back towards the center of the room. “Like, finally we get someplace worth visiting! Lemme have my fun!”

Magnus tried to grasp his arm again, but Taako kept moving, circling around the platform like it was some kind of game until Magnus lost his patience and gave up and Taako blew a raspberry at him, under the delighted gaze of the hosts.

“Are you ready?” the two elves asked again, in chorus, when the three of them had settled.

“Hell yeah!” Taako raised his arms with his fists closed. Merle looked at Magnus, who just opened his arms and shrugged with a puzzled expression.

The two elves grinned and, lifting their arms in the air, they snapped their fingers and disappeared.

-

A new door opened pretty soon, but by then Barry, having lost his protection, had to retreat and look for an opportunity. The bard was charging a spell in the back, so Barry rushed into the forest and ran in his direction, to attempt to ambush him. Meanwhile, Lucretia staggered, her shield destroyed one more time: she didn't have time to attune with the Relic once again - Barry couldn't help but feel a little guilty of that one, he should've gave it back to her as soon as the new plan was made.

Julia protected her, as she attempted to talk to Killian, but the orc woman was deaf to any kind of reasoning.

Barry was almost going to attack the bard from his position when Killian lunged forward. Julia avoided the blow by a hair and then slammed down her warhammer on the crossbow, sending flaming bits of shattered wood flying all around.

Killian growled and raised the gauntlet to set a plume of fire in her direction. Julia grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door of darkness. Carey called Killian's name and followed suit, leaving Barry, Lucretia and Johann dumbfounded and alone in the clearing.

-

It was a creepy sight.

Merle had seen Taako as a lich in the Parlay room - he still wondered about why that happened - but this was a hundred times creepier. It was their victory, but they were tired and injured, especially Taako who was on the verge of death since his  _ bad luck _ sacrifice had caused a piece of machinery to fall right on top of him. And yet,  _ and yet, _ Taako was standing in the middle of the room, panting and covered in his own blood and yet still laughing like an idiot was a much more disconcerting sight.

“Buddy, you lost a bit too much blood there?” Merle tried, approaching him and readying an healing spell before the hosts’ voiced announced that  _ Oops, there's no healing in Wonderland. _

“Well, no biggie!” Taako laughed, “I feel like I can take on ten more flying bears!”

“Wow, someone's eager!” the make elf’s disembodied voice laughed.

“Don't worry, there's plenty of battles yet to come!” the female elf added just as the door to the next room appeared.

Taako rushed towards the exit, but was stopped on his tracks by Magnus, who grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Taako started wriggling and complaining he wanted to be let go of, but Magnus, after securing his axe, started rustling through the elf’s possessions until he found the Pocket Spa™. He threw the box on the ground and let the entrance to the demiplane unfurl before tossing Taako in and following suit.

“The only reason I'm not punching you in the face is that I'm not sure you have enough hit points left!” he growled once they were both inside. “What the fuck was that all about?! Are you trying to fucking die?” Magnus was shouting in anger at this point. Merle joined them in the Spa and tried to moderate Magnus’ anger.

“I cast some amazing spells, that's what that was all about!” he was still smiling but now that he was prone it was easier to notice how much he was twitching. He suddenly sit up, staring at the entrance. “Who cares if I die, I get a second chance, don't I?  _ Cast away your mortal body _ or whatever!”

Magnus and Merle stared at him, terribly disconcerted and horrified.

“Pan almighty, kid, that’s not…” Merle fumbled with words.

“You’re not gonna let yourself  _ die,  _ Taako!” Magnus roared, in anger. “Not on my watch.”

“Eh, yeah, sure, watch me,” Taako bolted on his feet and attempted to exit the Spa, but lost his footing, stumbled and fell into Magnus’ open arms with a confused “Uh?”

“Hey, stay still! I’m not sure how many Hit Points you got left but they’re not many!” Merle got closer. “Maybe, even if I can't magically heal, I can treat some of our wounds so we don't face the next battle in this sorry state.”

“Good idea, Merle.” Magnus sat down, slowly lowering Taako so that his head laid in his lap. He had been about to lash out at him, but in those few seconds something had begun to change. The elf was still awake, but his unnatural giddiness had quickly faded away, leaving space to a confused and somewhat panicked expression.

“What the fuck…ow! What the fuck?!” Taako repeated, grabbing his head with an hand.

“We’re finally on the same line there,” Magnus scoffed.

Taako groaned, shut his eyes closed and shook his head. That euphoria, that adrenaline now fading away was somewhat familiar, and yet he couldn't exactly place it. “I feel like I got run over by a battlewagon- oh, wait!”

“That's what you get for accepting that Skull.” Merle prepared needle and thread to close a large gash on Taako's shoulder.

Taako opened his eyes, Magnus realized with a sigh of relief his pupils had shrunk back to a decent size.

“Are you lucid now?” Magnus wondered, raising a hand with some fingers up. “How many?”

Taako nodded slowly. “Three.” He passed a hand over his face.

Magnus nodded and lowered his hand, grasping Taako’s shoulder. “What the hell got into you out there?”

“I don't know,” Taako answered truthfully, “I wasn't charmed or anything, I just felt like- It was-” he took a deep breath and chuckled in disbelief. “I wasn’t kidding, gods, it felt  _ amazing. I  _ felt... _ alive. _ Like I could  _ do anything. _ Does that make any sense?” he carefully omitted he kinda missed it now. The power rush had given space to a vague sickness and nausea he wasn't exactly enjoying. “Please let me go back in there…”

“Uh, not before I tend to your wounds.” Merle frowned.

“I know, but-”

Magnus raised a finger to stop him and poked his head outside the Spa. “Hey, is there a penalty or some shit if we don't proceed immediately to the next room?”

Silence. For the first time since they entered Wonderland, its hosts didn't reply. Someone else did though, a raspy voice seemingly coming from a piece of machinery.

“No penalty, but nothing good either will come from you just camping here. Didn't you get it when they said there's no healing?”

Magnus hesitantly walked out of the pocket dimension and towards the voice: “Who- who goes there? Hello? Hail, and well met!”

“Come hither, and I will reveal to you my dark secret!” the voice dramatically announced.

Magnus grimaced, but complied.

-

A third door opened, with only the three remaining names on it. It also read “Compete for the Bell!” on the top and “A Race to the Prize!” on the bottom.

“This is bad…” Lucretia murmured.

Johann approached and Barry immediately put himself between him and Lucretia. Johann raised his arms. “I'm on your side!” he cried, “I know about the IPRE, we tried to stop Killian but she would have killed us if we hadn't fought alongside her! She's not herself anymore!”

Lucretia looked at him sadly, then put a hand on Barry's shoulder to make him lower his guard.

“Please, help us stop her,” Johann murmured, lowering his arms. He looked like a lost puppy.

“We'll do our best, Johann,” Lucretia stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “But for now, all we can do is put our faith in them and wait.” She eyed the door, but no way she was going to just walk through.

“We're not going in there?” Johann looked at the door then at Barry and finally at the open door.

“No.” Lucretia shook her head. “Believe me, there's nothing I want more than going in and helping them but that wouldn't be good for anyone, I'm afraid.”

-

“Yeah, you've been using a lot of spell slots, are you gonna be fine?” Merle was saying when Magnus walked back in.

“I wasn't that high to use immediately my big guns, I'm- what the shit is that thing?” Taako jolted when he saw Cam.

“Rude,” the head commented. “My name's Cam, sorry if I don't greet you with a formal handshake, but I seem to have misplaced my...everything.”

“Sacred Pan!” Merle jumped on his feet and approached Magnus. “Is that- Were you- Did you sacrifice so much that you're just an head?”

“Basically,” Cam confirmed.

“Is this the Cam Lucretia mentioned? How did you find him?”

The disembodied head jolted in Magnus’ hands. “You know Lucretia?! Has she trapped you here too?”

“Yeah...no! Maybe? Nah,” Merle replied. “We've come to retrieve a bell.”

“Must be a pretty fucking good bell!” Cam snorted. “Anyway I've been watching you fight and you seem, uhm, pretty...vital,” he glanced at Taako, who was now leaning against the wall of the sauna with his eyes half closed. “What's wrong with you anyway?”

“Wow, fuck you.” Taako grimaced, sitting upright again. “I just needed to rest a moment!”

“I meant in the Monster Factory, you really looked like you were enjoying yourself!”

“Cam,” Magnus interrupted him, “What can you tell us about Wonderland?”

“Oh, it's pretty much a death trap. You do realize there's no way out, right?”

“Yeah.” “Figured.”

“It's a rigged game, so if you want to get the thing you came for - if it's even here - you're gonna have to change the game .  You guys seem like strong dudes and, um, I think I could help you out, uh gettin’- gettin’- makin’, makin’ progress through Wonderland and facing less gnarly fights like the one you guys just had to get through. Um, how does- does that sound good? Maybe you can scratch my back and I’ll- well, scratch the back of my hair and I’ll scratch your, whatever? With my teeth? Anyway this is not-” he rambled on, until Taako raised his Umbrastaff and cast Silence around him.

“Hey, that's rude!” Magnus complained.

“He was giving me an headache. Do you really want to bring him along.”

Merle scoffed. “I don't know which I hate more: Sugar High Taako or Grumpy Taako.”

Taako gave him the middle finger. “I hate to say this but I need to get back out there, I'm gonna throw up if I stay in here with you asses any longer…”

“Yeah, before we do that,” Magnus glanced at Cam, who looked like he was still talking, “Unsilence this guy, he might know stuff.”

Taako groaned but lifted the spell.

“-help you're gonna die sooner than you think! Any questions?”

The three of them stared. Did he actually think they were still listening to him?

“Cam, why can't we heal?” Merle wondered.

“Oh, well that would defeat the point of of this place, right? Like, you guys understand like that the point of this place is to make you suffer, right? Plus, Wonderland is full to the brim with Necrotic energy, even if the rules allowed you to heal, it wouldn't be so effective!”

Merle and Magnus looked at Taako, who seemed to have perked up as they all reached the same conclusion.

“Well, shit. I wasn't too far off with the sugar high,” Merle giggled. Taako just rolled his eyes.

“This could go to our advantage though?” Magnus mused. “Use their cards against them or something?”

“Or something,” Taako mumbled, “Ugh, why isn't Barry here? I'm still no good at this, you've seen me in there!”

“You can do it,” Magnus smiled, holding Cam with one hand and using the other to squeeze Taako's shoulder. “I trust you, you can do this!”

“What in the blazes are you guys talking about?” he looked at Taako. “What, you some kind of zombie? Ghoul?”

“Ew, ew, no,” Taako grimaced. “With this pretty mug?”

“He's a lich.” Magnus and Merle said, matter-of-fact, in chorus. Taako jolted, looking at them with an astonished and betrayed expression.

“Uh, oh, ok? Uh- I'll be honest, I don't even know how to answer to that. For real?” Cam fumbled, staring at Taako with his eyes wide open.

“Yeah, I don't like flaunting it around though,” he glared at the other two.

Merle shrugged, “Well, Cam’s Lucy’s friend. I figured it would be easier for us to have him help us if he knew our hand.”

“Still…” Taako groaned.

“Good call,” Cam continued, ignoring the privacy of their conversation. “Yes, this can be good, if you're like them you can probably get access to their reserve of power under their nose.”

“Them?” Taako repeated, a feeling of dread worming his way into his head.

“The  _ two  _ liches running Wonderland. Lydia and Edward. You did realize there were two, right?”

“Well, shit.” Merle sighed after a long moment of silent terror. None of them actually linked the two hosts of the show with the lich Barry and Angus briefly reported to have met, even though they should've known better.

“It- it's gonna be alright!” Magnus exclaimed, trying to lift the group's morale.

“Yeah, no, fuck this!” Taako bursted out. “I can't go against two on my own!”

“Well, thankfully,” Merle said, determined but calm. “You're not on your own. You've got us, and Barry, Julia and Lucy just outside. All we need to do, really, is open the way for them. You're not alone, you big dumbass.”

Taako looked up, astonished. Why did he never stop and considered how glad he was to have his family back?

“You better watch my back, or Taako won't grace you his attention enough to get you out of this hellhole!” he started quietly and finished the phrase with one of his trademark grins.

Magnus beamed back. “Yeah!” he lifted a hand to give him a high-five. Taako rolled his eyes but reciprocated, Merle followed suit. Magnus held out his hand to Cam, who just glared at him, so Magnus gave him a light playful slap on the cheek.

“Can we go now?” Taako stood up on his feet, with the aid of the Umbrastaff. “I hate to say this, but I might need a boost from that shit out there right now.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Magnus shrugged. “But I'm keeping the Spa: if you go off rails or purposefully endanger yourself again I'm slamming you in here for the next couple of hours.”

Taako chuckled. “Don't worry~ I've got my guard up now, I won't lose my head.”

-

Kravitz appeared from a planar rift with the brim of his feathery coat still on fire and his skeletal appearance. Johann couldn't stop himself and shrieked at the sight.

“Who's this?” the Reaper asked, shifting back to his usual appearance.

“This is Johann, a dear friend of mine,” Lucretia replied without missing a beat.

“I've seen you before,” Kravitz narrowed his eyes, looking right at Johann. “Oh, right. Refuge. Weren't you with the people who attacked Taako and Angus?”

“I'm- I'm sorry. I was on the wrong- the wrong side, I get it!” Johann cowered behind Lucretia.

“Kravitz, we're in a bit of a situation,” Barry stepped forward.

Kravitz stopped staring at Johann with hostility and looked around. “Where's everyone else?”

“That...is the situation,” Barry replied slowly, meekly pointing towards Wonderland and the open door.

Kravitz's eyes widened in horror. “You've let Taako go in there.”

“We were planning to go all together!” he explained. “But Killian decided to shoot me just as I was going through.”

“You don't get it!” Kravitz got right up to him. “This place is a crucible of condensed negative emotions, it's a lich’s lair!”

Barry paled. “Oh, fuck.”

“It's dangerous for everyone, but they should be together! At least Merle, Taako and Magnus should, I'm really worried about Julia…” Lucretia stepped in.

“Merle and Magnus will hopefully keep an eye on him, but Taako will severely hurt himself. He's a newborn, he can't shield himself from that kind of external power. He'll just keep absorbing it until his body won't take it.” Kravitz explained more and more frantically.

Lucretia frowned, taken aback. “What- newborn? What the hell are you talking about?”

Kravitz paused and looked at Barry, who just adjusted the cuffs of his robe, uncomfortably. “Luce doesn't know.”

“She doesn't know.” Kravitz repeated, incredulously. “You haven't told a member of your  _ family  _ that you forced Taako to become a lich.”

Barry cringed. “When you say it like that-”

“You did what?” Lucretia's face contorted with horror. “Why?”

“-it sounds really bad.” Barry finished, speaking at the same time as her. “I did it to save his life!”

Johann’s eyes darted between the three of them, with more confusion every second.

Kravitz scoffed. “You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard those exact same words,” he sneered, crossing his arms.

“Are you still pissed at me? Because right now I'm trying to figure out a way to get in there undetected and keep Taako out of trouble!” Barry grabbed Kravitz’s shoulder with force. “And you should do the same!”

“I-” for a short moment, Kravitz was speechless. “I can't go inside Wonderland. Even coming this close is a risk. Those two in there  _ know  _ me, they'll feel my presence, they'll run away before I do anything to oppose them. They're powerful and you all should have waited for me before waltzing in.”

“Those two. There's two of them?!” Barry repeated. “You already knew about Wonderland, didn't you?” he hissed in rage when the reality of the situation dawned on him. It wasn't like him to lose control, but he let a few sparks of energy dance around him when he pushed Kravitz against the building's wall.

“I know about the liches dwelling in there, I had no idea what kind of operation they put up. My Queen never let me pursue this bounty.”

“Then,” Barry pushed him even more forcefully, “Tell me everything you know and then get in there with me!”

“I can't!” Kravitz hissed, pushing Barry back and striding towards the door. His name hadn't appeared on it. He tried to put is hand through the fog but was stopped, like he'd tried to go through concrete. “This body of mine is divine in nature, I physically cannot get into that environment! I suppose I could leave it in the astral plane and project through like I did in the floating lab, but that would be risky for me too…”

“Then just tell me what you know, and then kill me. I'll go, I'm experienced, I can take full advantage of the environment!”

“Yeah, no, let me stop you there!” Kravitz grimaced. “My Queen is lenient to a certain point: the moment you leave your body it's a one-way trip to the Stockade for you!”

“What! That's not what our deal was!”

“I didn’t make the deal, necromancer. It's the freedom My Queen’s allowed you to have!”

“I'm so lost,” Johann murmured, giving up on trying to make sense of what he was witnessing.

Lucretia sighed. “I wish I was,” she sat on the grass beside him.

-

Once he knew what to expect, Taako handled the new power source pretty well without letting himself be overwhelmed.

At least for the first couple of rooms.

But once the lights flashed, the audience cheered and the dating game begun he once again started to lose grip on his sanity. There was a small alarm bell ringing in the back of his mind, warn Magnus, get in the demiplane, but most of him just welcomed the cold power slowly soaking into his own Essence. Akin to the fake warmth of hypothermia, it was exciting and intoxicating and- did those two run on that shit 24/7? No wonder they were so fucking happy and excited  _ and a little bit insane _ all the time.

“Why don't we show the other contestants how well you're doing?”

Another team had trusted them, while they did press Forsake. Another team faced a nearly impossible challenge while they dealt with silly questions about themselves.

They expected to see the quartet of dwarves who pressed Forsake on their first round, or maybe an unlucky team who had not lost their faith in others just yet.

Taako felt the adrenaline rush shut off immediately when Julia appeared on the screen. A metaphorical bucket of water on his head washed away the warm giddiness he’d been experiencing, his ears were ringing when he witnessed Magnus throw himself against the screen with an expression of pure despair but although he was screaming, Taako couldn't hear a word he was saying.

Julia didn't hear or see them. She was wearing a bandage around her head and over her eyes, and she was in a worse shape than Taako.

And she was with Killian and Carey, who likewise looked pretty bad themselves. Killian was bloody and prone, it was Carey that looked up at them and they could see, clear as they, her mouth the word why.

Nobody reacted. Magnus kept calling Julia's name even when the screen shut off. Taako was just so out if it to the point he had to make an effort to recognize that Merle had grabbed and was forcefully shaking his arms.

Sound slowly returned to the world and Magnus’ sobs echoed grimly through the room. Spirals of thick black fog just pouring out of his mouth, endlessly.

“Well, well, well,” Edward sounded delighted . “Apparently you are familiar with one of the other contestants. Makes sense since you are competing for the same prize!”

Merle, still holding Taako's arm, had to let go and step back when red lighting started coursing through the elf’s body. Taako's expression hardened as a small part of the black smoke, flowing from Magnus towards the ceiling, suddenly seemed to break the laws of common sense and started gravitating around the elf’s body.

“You look pretty bummed out,” Lydia’s voice echoed, “What do you say we bend the rules a little and let you help Julia?”

Magnus’ head jerked up. “Yes,” he said immediately. The hosts started laughing.

“We'll let you play a Bonus Round , if you sacrifice two more things we'll give Julia her eyes back. What do you say?” Edward spoke sympathetically.

“Yes!” Magnus screamed, bolting to his feet and breaking Taako from his trance.

As Taako stepped forward to warn his friend against the blatant trap, he finally realized the black smoke was still surrounding him. He yelped, catching Magnus and Merle's attention as he started to attempt to shake it off. Instead of dissolving, the smoke seemed to sink in under his skin and Taako drew a sharp breath as he felt pure power sink into his core. It wasn’t like before, it was cold and breathtaking, but it was definitely a power surge: he felt it buzzing in his veins, begging to be used. And at the same time, he felt agony and despair that was so incredibly  _ Magnus’s. _ This power was Magnus’ suffering, his grief and longing for Julia, emotions so aligned with Taako's own that it wasn’t hard to keep his head.

So the smoke was emotions, condensed emotions. It surrounded, it shaped the environment around them. There was no reason Taako couldn't manipulate it himself. Gritting his teeth he finally closed the distance between him and Magnus.

“Let's do this, let's help Jules. After that, I'm going all out, let's get out of here.” He whispered at him. Taako's hand was shaking when he gripped Magnus’ own.

Magnus didn't reply, he just gave him a sharp nod and the three of them walked out of the newly formed door.

-

A little replica of the Wheel of Sacrifice manifested for them in the following room. Magnus got Body and lost some of his vitality. Taako got another Skull but this time he accepted without hesitation. “Boring,” the two hosts commented.

Another screen appeared, and Julia was arguing with Killian when they stopped suddenly, apparently listening to the elves’ voices. Julia hesitantly unwrapped the bandage and opened her eyes, finally looking up at the screen, staring at Magnus in horror.

Magnus grinned and gave her a double thumbs up, then he signed her a stop or pause motion, followed by a series of weird gestures Julia seemed to recognize. A language of some kind?

The screen turned off and Magnus turned around towards Taako. “What now?”

“Well, now you proceed and get to the actual Wheel of Sacrifice!” Edward enthusiastically announced. “You know this one, aren't you excited?”

“I wasn’t talking to you, you piece of shit.” Magnus growled.

“What? Rude...” Edward said.

“Yeah, I got a fucking idea for you.” Taako announced, as he says so he opened his arms and braced himself as swirls of black smoke were getting sucked up of the ceiling and started rotating around him.

“Uhm? Hey? What the fuck?!” the hosts of Wonderland sounded pretty confused and kinda offended, as Taako threw his head back and smiled.

Shape the fog into a door.  _ Door. Door,  _ he thought repeatedly, focusing on the idea and the image to avoid his train of thought derailing as a thousands different burst of similarly disheartening feelings rushed into his head. As he extended his hands towards the wall, the tips of his fingers started tingling, like he just dipped in cold water that was slowly freezing around him. Grimacing from the not-quite-pain, he forced himself to keep his ground and shut his eyes, visualizing the shape he wanted the smoke to take. When he opened them again, he saw a shiny, inky blackness spreading from his fingers to the wrists, almost as he had dipped his hands in ink.

A giant, ornate, stone arch formed on the wall and just as it finished forming, Taako pulled his hands to his chest, closing himself off from the power source and the smoke started drifting back towards the ceiling. He did it.  _ He did it.  _ Barry was going to be so proud.

The cold stopped spreading but didn’t disappeared, eating at his flesh and making him fall on his knees and bending forward in an attempt to fight the heavy shivers wracking his body.

It was Magnus who grabbed him off the ground, lifting him effortlessly in his arms and dragging him, together with Merle, out of the room to finally get somewhere completely different.

The room behind them, now obviously all the rooms they'd been through since that moment, still had their names on it. While Merle stayed behind, Magnus ran off towards another cylindrical room that had Julia, Carey and Killian’s names on it. “Do you think you can open a door in this one?”

Taako didn’t answer, teeth clenched as he still tried to fight off the cold. “I wish. I want to, but-” he managed to answer.

Magnus frowned and let him down, Taako barely stood on his feet. The smoke was supposed to empower him, why did he felt so weak all of a sudden? The answer came to him when he looked down at his hands, rubbing the fingertips together. The blackness had stopped spreading right about at the elbows, making him look like he was wearing weird dark adherent silk gloves. It didn't hurt but although he could move them, his fingers felt uncomfortably cold and numb:  _ he was still in his living body, _ and a living body was not supposed to house so much necrotic energy. It was called  _ necrotic _ for a reason! He found himself laughing bitterly. “I fucked up,  _ again _ .”

“What! No!” Magnus put both his hands on Taako’s shoulders. “Taako, that was fucking amazing! You got us out!”

Taako grinned weakly, unable to break Magnus’ hope. “I'm fucking amazing, so here's what you get.”

The staircase at the center of the cavernous chambers they were in was suddenly illuminated by a spotlight, inviting them to climb it.

“It's not over,” Merle stated. “Let's get the Bell back from these bastards”

“Then we rescue Julia,” Magnus nodded, glancing one last time at the room with her name on.

When they stepped on the staircase, from the top of the high circular platform at the center of the chamber, a noise started. A loud, rhythmic clapping that seemed to incite them to climb.

Once the three of them finally got to the top, the horde of seated mannequins stopped clapping and the lights turned off, leaving only one on illuminating the catwalk and the two figures atop of it.

“Well, well, well,” Edward giggled. “You- you did it!”

He snapped and a tiny ball of confetti opened over their head, showering them in glitter and colorful paper.

“You did it! Although, I have to admit, we were- we were shocked!” He strutted forward, while the woman twirled in her elegant dress and as she moved behind him, she disappeared. “For a contestant to manipulate our power source...That was slightly disconcerting and kinda rude, but I guess compliments are due, so let’s hear it for Taako!” And as he spoke a pulsating music kicked off, and the lights too, while the mannequins rose and gave them a standing ovation.

Taako cringed a little, and instinctively tried to step back. A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders as Lydia appeared from behind him and she was beaming. “And what a wonderful surprise you have been, it’s not often that our kind waltzes into Wonderland.”

“I’m not-” Taako tried to get away from her, but a few mannequins had stood up from their seats and pushed themselves between Magnus, Merle and Taako, separating them from each other and pushing Taako on the catwalk. Magnus let out a panicked shout that got drowned by the loud music.

Taako loved being at the center of the attention, rejoiced in a crowd applauding him, but in that moment, standing on the elevated catwalk, while Lydia’s hands slid down from his face and body as if he was a fucking specimen, he wanted nothing more than blast her and run away. And despite that, he was paralyzed. “No wonder you didn't care about the sacrifices,” Lydia laughed, “since you're in a borrowed body!” She caressed his arms until she got to his hands and examined them with a playful smile. “You should take better care of it if you want it to last.”

Taako jerked back his hands and glared at her. “Fuck you, this is  _ my  _ body!”

“Aw, don’t be selfish.” Edward was holding something small in his hand, something giving out a metallic glint under the stage lights. “You got skull in the bonus round, didn’t you?”

Taako’s eyes widened, he gripped the Umbrastaff, and was lifting it up when Edward grinned. “Bad Luck.”

The Animus Bell rung and just like that, just like the first time - during the ceremony, where he was in pain and helpless and yet with people who he trusted, who knew what they were doing - his perception shifted. Sight and hearing sharpened, while all other senses deadened. Taako watched his own body fall backwards - and Edward fly into it as Lydia helped him back on his feet - and struggled to keep it together as forming a coherent string of thought was getting more difficult by the second. Red lighting started to fling away

“Ow,” Edward spoke with Taako’s voice, “You had a pretty rough time in there! Well, let’s fix it up.”

Lydia snapped her fingers and just like that, the wounds on Taako’s body closed. Pronto, she turned around towards Taako himself, clapping her hands with an expression of pure delight. “Same clothes, same appearance, how delightful! You’re  _ new, _ aren’t you?” she giggled, her hands at the sides of his face (skull?). “How delightful, you made a mistake coming into Wonderland, but I might just  _ keep _ you.”

“Well, how do I look?” Edward vogued, deliberately ignoring her or Taako.

“Taako!” Magnus’ voice rose from the mannequins as an angelic Della Reese apparition stroke down a line of mannequins to the catwalk.

Lydia wrapped her hands around Taako’s unstable form and pulled him back with her in the Ethereal Plane, invisible to mortal eyes. Taako saw Magnus run towards him and  _ no not him, that’s not me, don’t go-  _ Edward just smiled.

“You-you’re fine!” Magnus cried in disbelief as he looked him up and down.

“Magnus,” Not Taako playfully called him, “Aren’t you glad that we won?”

Magnus stopped and took a step back, hand immediately darting to the Chance Lance. “Yes?”

“You know, my dude, I don’t think Wonderland’s that bad. I feel like I’ve learned a lot here, and I feel I could learn even more about myself, you get what I’m selling?”

“No?” Magnus took another step back.

From the Ethereal Plane, Taako trashed and screamed as he tried to get free from Lydia’s embrace. She evidently struggled to keep him still but there was a distinct power imbalance between them.

She laughed. “You’re a rowdy one for a newborn, aren’t you. You remind me a lot of  _ him. _ ”

Taako froze, there was something soft, something  _ kind _ in Lydia’s voice when she said that, something so different from the way she’d been behaving until then, that it threw him off completely.

“There were three of us, once, lifetimes ago.” She continued explaining, in a dreamy tone. “We had another sibling, a younger brother, Keetz. It was the three of us, surviving against all odds. The world against us. But Keetz...Keetz got sick. And he wouldn’t get better.” She sounded truly dreary as she told him their story. “So Edward and I joined a necromantic circle to try and save him! That’s when we became liches and managed to sustain ourselves with our love for our dear Keetz and each other. When we turned him, though, Keetz was a lot like you, though: unruly, uncontrollable,  _ he didn’t love us  _ as much and thus was unstable. He got captured and  _ enslaved  _ by the Raven Queen, before we could have done anything to save him.”

_ Familiar. Familiar, familiar, familiar. _ And yet the only thing that had Taako’s attention in that moment was Magnus and Merle and the trap Edward was luring them into.

“But when our love became insufficient, we discovered ways of using other people's emotions to sustain ourselves. Emotion is… so powerful, and practical. But it’s very hard to get people to love you. That’s how we discovered that, well, suffering’s much more effective than love.” Lydia laughed, her expression turning manic even though she was still hugging him.

Edward glanced at them, as if he could hear her. “What do you say we turn around and go back into Wonderland together?” he launched himself towards Magnus and grabbed his arm.

Magnus frowned, kicked him straight in the chest, pushing him away and shifted into battle stance. “He’s my friend and my brother, I’ve spent a hundred years with him and you thought I wouldn’t know the difference, you undead fuck?”

Pride. Joy. You go, Mag! In Lydia’s momentary surprise, Taako slipped away from her arms and flew towards and inside his body, contesting Edward in a fight of will for taking back control.

Magnus and Merle gasped as they saw Taako reel backwards, grabbing his head and scream just before the explosion of magical energy that shot out of his body.

Taako would have won if Lydia hadn’t come over again and blasted them both with a spell in his state of semi-confusion Taako couldn’t identify. Edward was panting, still reeling from the shock, but he was still successfully possessing Taako’s body when he looked up and grinned at him.

Taako’s lich form slid down the catwalk, now barely keeping a humanoid shape, he was just a pulsating core of red energy, leaking and damaging his surroundings.

Lydia made some sarcastic remark and Edward raised the Umbrastaff towards him, hoping to deal the finishing blow. The umbrella started shaking in his hands and without a warning it reversed.

_ Defeated magic user. Pure arcane power. _

_ Run. _

Taako scrambled to collect what little power he could still control to get himself together and fly away. He’d just gotten to the horde of mannequins when the sucking force of the Umbrastaff enveloped him in darkness.

Magnus and Merle called for his name repeatedly as they witnessed Taako no, Edward holding the Umbrastaff with reverence and a little bit of fear after it devoured Taako. “Holy shit,” he murmured, a crazed grin spreading on his face. He shrugged and pointed it towards Magnus and Merle. “So, where were we?”

Before he could cast anything, though, The Umbrastaff jolted from his grasp once, twice and finally free from his hand. With a loud cracking noise the wooden handle started to break and shatter. Light like a fire in the depths of the earth shone through the cracks and Magnus lifted up the shield just moments before it exploded, fabric and wood shattering and tearing in a thousand pieces as a wave of fire brushed over them, enveloping the platform and incinerating the mannequins but leaving the two of them and Taako’s body completely unharmed.

Merle looked up at the space right above where the fallen Umbrastaff had exploded and started laughing in delight. Magnus followed his gaze up and felt a grin spread on his face and tears of happiness start to form as he stared at two figures wrapped in red, holding hands with their skeletal fingers interlaced.

“Are you the ones who’ve been hurting my family?” Lup’s voice echoed in the chamber. She raised her free arm, coated in flames, and pointed it at Lydia and Edward. Taako silently mirrored her movement. “I think I’m gonna fucking  _ kill you _ now.”


	36. a mingled yarn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together: our virtues would be proud,if our faults whipped them not; and our crimes would despair, if they were not cherished by our virtues._   
>  _\- William Shakespeare, All’s Well What Ends Well, Act 4 Scene 3_

_ “Caleb walked into the office enshrouded in darkness. The woman, exactly like he deduced from the string of clues fate decided to lead him with, was there, showing her back to him. Outside it was still raining, it was the same rain Rosie had commented on before perishing to her fate. It was the same rain.  _

_ “Hello, Caleb.” Panthea turned around, she hadn’t even bothered cleaning the splatter of blood from the front of her dress. “Got a minute?”  _

_ “Why, inspector?” Caleb’s voice was shaking. He wasn’t afraid, he had already had the decisive proof to send the woman in the hands of the Militia for ages, and help was on the way. No, he was going to cry because he felt betrayed, this case had dragged on for such a long time because he couldn’t bring himself to fathom the fact that Inspector Panthea was the culprit.” _

“So, wait, hold on,” Davenport interrupted him. “This is the same Panthea we saw the point of view of in chapter 4?”

Angus raised his head from the Caleb Cleveland novel he was reading out aloud, on the bridge of the Starblaster. They were flying high above the clouds, but the ring around them that powered the ship also protected them from the cold temperature. The one before them was an inspiring and calming view in such a tense moment of waiting.

“It’s called unreliable narrator, Captain.” Angus grinned. When he’d first read the novel, he knew from the moment the mystery was introduced that she was gonna be the villain, or at least involved with them. Why else would the narrator include her disdain for the deceased’s shoes?

“Please, proceed.” Davenport prompted him, sipping some more wine from his glass.

Angus nodded, but instead of reprising the narration, he just stared at the clouds shifting below him. “Sir?” he called. “Will they be alright?”

Davenport snorted, then realized his reaction had been somewhat rude and cleared his throat. “Angus, I chose each and everyone of them personally when I first constructed this expedition. It didn’t end like I thought it would but...they’re still my crew and I believe in them wholeheartedly.”

Angus smiled, admiring and reassured by the unwavering faith this man had in his companions.

“They’re gonna be just fine.”

\- 

_ Defeated magic user. Pure arcane power.  _

_ Run. _

Taako scrambled to collect what little power he could still control to get himself together and fly away. He’d just gotten to the horde of mannequins when the sucking force of the Umbrastaff enveloped him in darkness.

For Taako, just being incorporeal was a challenge. He'd only ever been once before - during the ceremony - and even then if Kravitz hadn't dragged Taako back in his own body things would have turned really ugly, really fast.

The distress caused by the circumstances didn't help and even if he wasn't actually in pain, he struggled to remain concentrated enough to keep his semi-physical form together. Once the Umbrastaff reversed and sucked him in, any effort he made until then ended up being in vain: darkness started pulling him apart like a stand of fabric coming undone in a thousands threads and suddenly he wasn't able to think- to feel-  _ to be. _

And then something started pulling him back together. Not kindly, but forcefully determined and effective, dragging him back to consciousness with a ferocious will and all of a sudden Taako was again. And even if it was probably a projection, he could  _ see _ and he could  _ feel _ and he immediately realized he was prone on the floor of a small claustrophobic room surrounded by thick black velvet curtains closing to the ceiling in a conic shape.

Someone's warm hands were cupping his face and for a brief second he panicked, thinking about Lydia doing the same just seconds before, but as his eyes focused they did on a familiar, a loved face, caressed by a hundred different and contrasting emotions.

“There you go,” Lup grinned and looked like she was going to cry and laugh at the same time.

Taako just stared, mesmerized, at a face he pretty much had given up on seeing for so long now. His hands reached up and caressed her face, thumbs sliding on her cheeks, as he sit up. Tears filled her eyes, and suddenly he was weeping, his whole body wracked by sobs as he curled up against her chest like a child as Lup’s arms embraced and warmed him up.

Lup caressed the back of his head, with a motion he was familiar with from their time on the road together. “There, there…”

Taako didn't know where he was, not even if this was some kind of dream or illusion, but in that moment nor he cared nor he had the strength to think about the circumstances. Not until Lup brought it up. “Hey, Koko? Koko?” she gently lifted his chin, looking at him in the eyes. “Try to focus a little. Do you know where we are?”

Taako gripped her clothes even more tightly and shook his head.

“We're inside the Umbrastaff,” she responded, under his shocked gaze. “I've been here for...a while, but I could never get out on my own.”

Lup let Taako go, but he just gripped on the front of her clothes, looking at her in panic. He opened his mouth but the only sound that came out of his throat was a panicked cry.  _ Don't let me go, don't let me go- _

“Look at you…” she grimaced, caressing his face and kissing his forehead. She was on the verge of tears herself now. “You can’t- Barry should have never- You're not made for this shit, Koko.” She kissed him again, on his eyes and ears, and laid his head against her chest. “You must keep it together, we can get out of here now. It's not much but I need your strength to break this place apart.”

Taako nodded, although he only half-understood what she was saying. She interlaced her fingers with his and dragged him up on his feet. Taako leaned forward to make their foreheads touch as filaments of power rushed out of their forms and lashed out at the room around them, tearing the velvet curtains apart and setting them on fire.

A loud hum pervaded their senses, Lup struggled to keep both of them from falling apart, and finally,  _ finally, _ the curtains burned down and they were  _ outside. _

-

Kravitz and Barry were still in the middle of their argument when the sound of an explosion filled the air and a column of fire soared to the sky from the center of the Wonderland building. The headlights fizzled and turned off, the door that had been still open for them glitched and disappeared.

Without a word, Kravitz shifted into his reaper form and flew up to the rooftop. The edges of the circular hole on top of the building were still red hot after the explosion, but when he leaned forward to take a look inside he could only see pure darkness.

“Hey? What's going on?” Barry called. Kravitz sighed and floated back to the edge, looking down on the three of them.

“There's a hole. I'll make a guess and say the rest of your group made it.”

“And you still won't go inside, will you?” Barry grumbled. “Can you at least give me a hand and get me up there?”

Kravitz smirked and crossed his arms. “Or maybe I should just enjoy the sight of you trying to climb up!”

Barry clenched his fists, and angrily pointed one at him. “You asshole reaper, I'm gonna cast Power Word Kill, I am! ”

“Awesome, give me a job I can actually do!” he called back. Behind him, like a wound knitting itself close - almost as if the building was a living being - the hole started shrinking.

-

The only reason Killian didn't kill Julia on the spot when she dragged her into the darkness was that the show of lights that surrounded them when the hosts of Wonderland appeared had her completely dumbstruck.

Afterwards, Julia's first sacrifice was Backpack and she laid down her sword without a moment of hesitation. She looked at Killian straight in the eyes and said “If we don't work together, we won't survive in here.  I must find my husband and I swear you're gonna find your answers, but until then I propose a treaty .”

Killian narrowed her eyes but didn’t reply, nor did she motion to spin the wheel. Only when Carey, silently, tried to, she forcefully pushed her back and spun it in her stead.

“Killian!” Carey cried when the wheel stopped on Body .

“On everything I hold dear, Carey, I’m not letting you spin this thing.” She stated just as the elves started speaking again.

Wonderland was brutal and with each round of the unforgiving game, Julia regretted her decision to drag Killian and Carey in there even more. A regret that prompted her to sacrifice more and more to allow Killian and Carey to stay in fighting shape.

Killian sacrificed the Gauntlet on the second round, to her and Carey's relief and surprise. Her hand, underneath, was blistered and burned, but immediately after the Grand Relic disappeared, Killian seemed to be able to analyze the situation with a clear mind.

“I've been such an idiot,” she commented.

Carey jumped at her neck and kissed her, “Pretty much, glad you're back. Now let's win this thing!”

Julia smiled and spun the wheel.

“For this round, you'll have to sacrifice your sight ,” the elves announced with delight when Julia spun eyes for the second time. She was already colorblind, but this was the worst case scenario.

“Refuse,” Killian hissed, and didn't even look at her. “Refuse, I'll spin one more time.”

Julia considered, then shook her head. “You let yourself be engulfed by rage, but you're a good person. Just, take me back to my husband.” She said, before touching the wheel and falling into pure darkness.

The following challenge would have killed her if Carey and Killian hadn't dragged her out of harm's way several times; even then, they only reached the finish line with several injures.

“Let's show your opponents how well you did.”

They had such a bad time because someone forsook them. Julia couldn't see who was on the screen when it appeared, but she heard Carey and Killian gasp.

“No! Why-” Carey cried, while Killian just growled , a deep rumbling inhuman sound.

A beeping sound announced the screen going off and the door to the next room opening, but no one dragged Julia on her feet.

“I- I don't get...Who was there? Who pressed forsake?” she asked with urgency.

But then, she already knew the answer. Who else was in Wonderland that they could have recognized?

“This is such bullshit !” a loud hollow thump told Julia that Killian had just punched the wall.

“Good News!” the hosts of Wonderland announced all of a sudden, while a small festive jingle played. “Your opponents just made two more sacrifices to allow one of you to get something back!”

And all of a sudden, Julia could see light through the bandage, she uncovered her eyes and looked up to look at the screen where Magnus was just beaming at her. 

“What have you done…” Julia mouthed. Her husband was missing a finger and most of his hair had gone an early grey. Taako looked like a building had fallen on him and Merle was wearing an eyepatch.

Then Magnus signed at her, in their small secret language they had made up at Raven’s Roost to communicate while he was courting her under her dad's nose. A mix of Thieves Cant and Sailors gestures.

_ Trap. _

_ Wait. _

_ One. _

_ We out. _

_ Two. _

_ Help you. _

_ Confirm? _

Julia signed back.  _ Confirm. _

-

“So,” Lup lilted as she let the fire dance on her fingertips, “two things. One, get the fuck out of my way.”

She shot the fireball at Lydia. The woman tried to fly out of the way, but the spell got bigger and hotter, burning blue and then bright white as it followed her, until it crashed into the woman with a giant explosion.

“Two,” Lup looked at Edward and smiled menacingly at him. “Leave my brother's body at once .”

Edward, who'd been following with his eyes Lydia as the fireball chased her around, looked at Lup and smiled nervously. “ Interesting. You wouldn't hurt him, well let's see how you respond to this!” and with these words he bolted towards the edge of the platform and with a twirl and a jump he let himself fall down.

Taako screamed and launched himself towards the edge, dragging Lup, still holding his hand, with him.

“Merle!” Lup called, promptly, just as she was being dragged away.

Merle grinned and, murmuring a short prayer, he extended his soulwood arm as the four branches untangled and grew at an astonishing speed, extending past the platform and down to wrap around Taako's body just seconds before he crashed to the ground.

Lup and Taako flew up to Edward, trashing and trying to get free as Merle dragged him up, and Lup just looked at him and smiled on his face. “Bad Luck.”

Edward stopped, looked back at them, looked at something over them and grinned. “Same to you.”

The giant serpent of flames swallowed them and the soulwood keeping Edward in place. Lup hadn't missed pain, honestly, and being hit by flames added mockery to the injury. Taako, by her side, screamed, his form flickering and losing composure, as Lup manipulated the flames to go around them.

“Shh, it's ok, it's ok,” she squeezed his hand and turned around to comfort him until he was calm again, before focusing back on the fight.

Lydia, now hovering above them, had been the one to conjure the fire serpent and now Lup could see how.

“Well, well,” Lup grinned, “I should have recognized my brand, honestly.”

Lydia grinned. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet had probably been able to shield her from the fireball because she looked unarmed. Even though she was holding up a Disguise Self to appear alive, so it was impossible to say.

“Lup…” Taako hissed, squeezing her hand. When Lup turned around, he was looking around in panic. Lup's eyes darted to him, then all around to figure out where Edward had ended up, but he seemed to have vanished in the darkness.

“Shit,” Lup hissed. Taako was already starting to lose his form again, she was running out of time.

“Eyes up here, dearie!” Lydia lilted, just before sending another fire blast in their direction.

This time, though, Lup knew what to expect and with a simple movement of her hand she changed the direction of the blast to the ceiling, where it opened a hole onto the red-tinged sky.

“Who do you think crafted that thing, bitch?” Lup flew upwards, back to the platform's level, and very close to Lydia. The woman looked pretty intimidated now.

“Hey, I'm sure we can reach an agreement here,” she yielded, voice trembling in panic. “What about you let me live...and I let you get out of Wonderland with your friends.”

“Sounds nice, but I really want my husband's Bell back and also ,” she closed her fist and a cage made of white fire instantly formed around Lydia, “I'm applying for a job and I assume killing you would be a nice line in my resume.”

With these words, she started shrinking the cage and increasing its heat, burning through Lydia’s semi physical form. The charm dropped, revealing the black hooded robes underneath, until even those started burning away and Lydia let out a long inhuman screech. When Lup was done, all that remained of Lydia was a cold blue wisp of light inside a tiny flaming cage. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet fell to the ground and Lup cast a string of destructive spells until it was reduced to fragment of half melted half broken metal among the charred mannequin remains. No one would use that blasted thing anymore.

“Yeahhh!” Magnus crowed from behind her, running towards her with Merle, still suffering the damage on his wood arm even when the latter had turned to his normal size. “ Lup , I'm so fucking glad to see you.”

“So fucking glad too, I’Morko,” Lup laughed. “But we still got one bad guy to catch! Did you see where he ran off to?”

Magnus frowned and shook his head. “Is the bastard still in Taako's body?”

“Yeah,” Lup sighed, looking at her brother with an indecipherable face. While in her spectral form, her flesh was resplending and translucent and discerning what expression she was making was pretty hard, but she surely didn't look happy .

Taako just hovered by her side, motionless and silent, occasionally flickering transparent.

“Hey, you ok there, buddy?” Merle asked him, concerned. Taako opened his mouth, but closed it without giving a reply, making just a hissing sound. Magnus looked very concerned.

“He’s-” Lup started, gripping even more tightly his hand. “He can't answer very well now. He looks stable, but I'm doing most of the job to keep him from falling apart,” she raised their clasped hands to show, “Taako isn't anchored , he can't stay in this form for long.”

“Then what are we waiting for!” Magnus exclaimed, immediately serious again. “Let's find that body-snatching son of a jerk!”

Lup nodded, but before any of them could act, a clamor of voices coming from below took them by surprise.

-

Edward had enshrouded himself in darkness once he realized that the fire lady was not to be messed with. She wouldn't hurt him as long as he was inhabiting her brother's body and oh gods they were a mirror image of him and Lydia a few decades prior what the fuck . Anyway, he needed to leave, quickly, before she could get her hands on him or the bell.

And another thing, the living body he was inhabiting was not handling well the negative energy he manipulated to remain hidden. Taako already damaged it when he flamboyantly created a door to escape, but Edward was shamefully following in his footsteps, literally .

The closest exit was the one on the ceiling, the hole the fire blast opened. If he ran outside from there before it closed, he wouldn't risk meeting the rest of the group that remained outside. Shame being bound in a body meant flying was off the table.

Grimacing, he ignored the pain swelling up in his chest when he heard Lydia scream and concentrated on projecting his voice into the game rooms.

“Perk up! You're almost done! La~ast round, darlings!” he joyously called, simultaneously making the walls of all 38 - empty or not - rooms disappear. Several groups of challengers looked around with hopeful  and relieved expressions. “ Destroy the people in red on top of this platform and the prize will be yours!”

A decent number of angry and excited people hurried towards the staircase. Good, this would have their attention for a while. Meanwhile, Edward focused on creating a rising platform to get to the hole, smaller and smaller every second.

As he reached the same level as the catwalk, he rejoiced in witnessing Magnus trying to keep the greedy mob at bay without being toppled, throwing them off the tall platform. The liches in red were scanning the room, probably looking for him, but looking in the total opposite direction while Edward passed by them, coated in darkness and illusion.

The hole was closing, he closed his fists and willed the construct to speed up. A shout announced the scary fire lady had spotted him, but it was too late, the platform shot him outside and simultaneously closed up the hole, sealing her inside Wonderland.

Edward rolled on the rooftop of the cylindrical building, the sun had already set but the sky was still burning orange. He coughed, checking for damage on that body, before he realized he wasn't alone.

Oh, shit . He could only think when he realized Kravitz was standing in front of him with a shocked expression.

“Taako?”

“Hey, dude,” Edward smiled nervously. Maybe he couldn't fool his companions, but he maybe he could fool Kravitz long enough to think of a way of escaping. Wait, did Kravitz know those guys or had he followed him from Neverwinter? Shit .

Before Kravitz opened his mouth to reply, a disconcerting sight appeared in front of their eyes. A fat human man, slowly floating upwards like an hot air balloon, flailing wildly to try - and fail - to stay upright and pulled himself, not without some difficulties, over the building.

“It's fine, Johann!” he shouted at someone on the ground. “Drop it.”

Whoever this Johann was, he dropped the Levitate spell and the man just crashed head first on the rooftop, a few feet away from them. He stood up, adjusted his glasses and - oh shit he was wearing the same red uniform as those four - trotted nonchalantly towards Kravitz, stopping only when his eyes fell on Edward.

“Ta-Taako? What are you doing here? How did you get out?” he exclaimed.

Edward tensed: it was the man from two nights earlier in Neverwinter, when Edward was spreading the word about Wonderland impersonating a winner. How did he get to the Felicity Wilds so quickly?!

Forget fooling them - how much did they know if they were working with Kravitz of all things? - he needed to play it safe. With a swift movement, he conjured a sharp knife and put it against his own throat, a thin trickle of blood sliding down the neck.

The man froze immediately and paled, gaping at him with an incredulous expression. After a moment of surprise, Kravitz seemed to realize what was going on and narrowed his eyes, extending an hand to summon his scythe.

“Uh, uh!” Edward stopped him, pressing the knife even more forcefully. “I'd rather you didn't do that. You need this body alive for your friend, don't you?” He didn't bother imitating Taako's voice anymore.

The truth seemed to dawn on the human, who just said “Oh, shit” and stepped back a little. He didn't look like much, he probably would be able to take on him if Kravitz wasn't in the way.

“I propose a deal,” Edward said.

“Let him go, Edward,” Kravitz growled, his eyes glowing red. Oh, he could be inhabiting that cursed goddess’ construct body but he was still one of them, wasn't he.

Edward grinned. “Why, Keetz? Aren't you underestimating your big brother a little?”

Barry gasped, looking at Kravitz with a shocked and somehow offended expression. “Your fucking brother?!” he gestured wildly.

Kravitz glared at him, “Not now,” he hissed between his teeth. He focused back on Edward, “Where's Taako?”

With his free hand, Edward pointed down. “Still in there, Lydia’s keeping ‘em busy.” He perked up. “Hey, what about this? I'll open Wonderland and leave a way out open for your friends, but you let me and Lydia go.”

Kravitz smirked, “Does that mean Lily isn't faring too well in there?”

_ Shit. _ Edward grimaced but quickly recomposed himself. “What do you say?”

“Absolutely not.” Kravitz shifted into his reaper form. “You've escaped the Raven Queen's rule for too long. It's time you desist and accept your rest in the Astral Plane.”

“So we can lose our powers and individuality as people and enter the Sea of Souls for a peaceful,  _ boring  _ endless rest? Don't fucking think so, Keetz.” He spit out, stepping back and sliding the knife against the neck. His throat seized as a huge flow blood spilled out now, what a shame, this was such a delightfully good looking body too. He wasn't going to stick around to experience death though, with his other hand he quickly resummoned the bell behind his back and rung it.

“No!” the man cried as he realized what Edward appeared to be doing. Kravitz moved too, extending an arm to materialize his scythe and launched himself forwards just as Edward started losing his footing, his conscience numbing for an instant before he got ejected from the body. As he appeared in lich form once again, he immediately cast a bolt of thunder damage towards Kravitz, hitting him in the chest and pushing him to the edge.

The pudgy man was at Taako's side in an instant, he dragged Taako’s body away from the battle and extracted a puny little wand.

Edward laughed, “Just what do you think you're doing with that tiny, little thing?”

With a bolt of light, a white magic barrier appeared between the two of them. When Edward tried to touch it, his form was burned by what looked like to be some kind of powerful variant of a Turn Undead spell.

“Uh,” Edward cocked his head. “Not bad.”

Not far away from them, a circular section of the rooftop started glowing red hot seconds before blasting open with another similar explosion as the one they just witnessed.

“Shit ,” Edward hissed and retreated into the Ethereal Plane, disappearing from their sight and flying away, holding the Animus Bell tightly.

-

The crowd of violent, greedy contestants pushed up the stairs, not caring about each other, and several of them already fell to their deaths. Julia, Killian and Carey had stayed back, along with a good third of people who were uninterested or too injured to proceed.

“So, what's your story?” Cam rolled up to them and Carey just screamed , literally jumping on Killian’s shoulders. “You ladies know the dudes I was rolling with, forgive me the joke. They got themselves in a pinch, I want to help them but I'm just a head. Hey, do you mind picking me up?”

Killian, looking a little disgusted, picked him up and kept him as far away from her face as possible. “What are you?”

“Oh just some dude who sacrificed a lot. Are you friends with Lucretia too?”

Killian gaped, shaking her hand and trying to figure out what to answer to that, when a voice called out from above.

“Hey! Julia! You too, Lucy’s Angels!” a couple of floating red shapes flew towards them, the silent one raised an arm and suddenly from the ground around them dozens of ladders sprouted like trees, shooting up and connecting with the ceiling. “We got a plan, it's kinda crazy but I love it!” they flew up close to them and Julia took a step back. She recognized the same appearance of Barry’s lich form when he killed himself in Refuge, but the voice of the one who spoke - although it had the same inflection as Taako - was unfamiliar.

“Are you- Are you Lup?” Julia gasped, her eyes moving between the two.

“My reputation precedes me,” Lup laughed. “It’s great to finally meet you, Julia Burnsides.”

Julia stared at the other figure, this wasn’t Barry, it was a mirror image of Lup, so-

“Oh, gods, Taako- did you-”

“He didn’t die!” Lup quickly exclaimed. “He’s just not in a good place right-”

Killian’s horrified shout interrupted her. “You guys are fucking  _ liches! _ ” she screamed. She had backed away and was immediately defensive, weapons at hand. “Are all you Red Robes undead?!” 

Lup snorted. “No, come on, that would be ridiculous!” she giggled, “That's just me and Barry and- well, Koko here, but that's a recent development. Anyway, you ladies might really want to hold on to something, shit is going to go down!” She said in a singsong voice, floating back towards the platform. “Or  _ up, _ I guess.”

The twins flew up, up towards the ceiling until they were able to touch it and then Lup laid a hand on it, summoning a circle of flame that innervated the construct and blasted a hole open. It took her a couple of seconds maximum, once she bolted out, to look around and see Taako's body lying down next to Barry.

“Nice! You got the jerk out! Sorry about this. Emergency Maneuver!” she spinned, dragging Taako in a circle, and suddenly let his hand go, flinging him back towards his body. “Babe, Life Transfer him now, BRB.”

Barry wasn't even able to process the fact he'd just saw Lup again, that she'd dived back in Wonderland. A smile had just started appearing on his lips when Taako jolted back awake, taking in a breath of air with a raspy, wet cough that didn't sound very promising. Without missing a beat, Barry started transferring him his life force, knitting the wound on his neck close but getting in quite the sorry state himself.

“Ok, ok, stop it, that's enough, that's enough!” Taako cried, when he was able to figure out what was going on. He slapped Barry, then proceeded to bolt up on his feet and stumble around like a drunkard before falling on his ass again. “Oh, fuck, yes,” he laughed with relief, sliding a hand down his face. “Fucking hell, Barold, how can you think when you go all ghost? That was so fucking intense!”

“That's- yeah, it's- no, wait. LUP ?!” he gestured wildly, a very similar grin depicted on his face.

“I know, right?! We were rad- wait…” he frowned, “did she just fucking  _ toss  _ me back in my body?

“Eh-hem,” Kravitz called them, sounding kinda pissed. “Hello, I’m here, I’m confused- Glad to see you’re back, Taako, but I think Edward just fucking ran away!”

“Oh, not for long,” Lup emerged again from the already closing door, in her hands she was holding delicately a small wisp of blue light, that she handed right to Kravitz. “There you go, Ghost Rider! Consider it my application for the job! He'll come back for her, right?”

Kravitz gaped, unable to answer before Lup flew right towards Barry. The man looked at her with an ecstatic grin, holding out his arms like he was afraid to touch her - or not being able to.

“You're- We knew- The prophecy- You're back ,” he started weeping. “I wanna blow myself up just to be able to hold you again.”

She laughed, playfully motioning to poke his nose. “Hold on to that beautiful body of yours, babe. We're kind of still in a rush!” she turned around towards Taako. “You ready?”

“Yeah sure,” he stood up, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles. “I need a focus though-” he swiftly grabbed the wand from Barry’s hand. “Got it!”

Barry was still dumbstruck to protest. “Wait, wait, hold on, Lup, just a question!” Barry urged them just before they dived back in. “Were you trapped in Wonderland? How did you-”

Lup floated towards him. “Oh, Barry, Babe, Beans, I fucking love you but you've been so dumb.” Taako giggled, she pointed a finger at him. “You too, dingus . I sent you two all kinds of signals, what was so hard to understand?”

Taako was still grinning, but looked kinda ashamed too, now. “She was in the Umbrastaff.”

Barry gaped, “Wait, what?”

“Absorbs the arcane essence of defeated magic users. Normally wands and shit, but, you know, liches …” Taako waved his hand and started grinning.

“Shit…” Barry murmured, as it dawned on him.

Lup raised a finger up. “Don't-”

Taako grinned. “... get stitches .”

“I can't fucking believe you said that…” Lup sighed, making an exaggerated dramatic motion.

“Lup,” Barry called again. “For real, though, did you really make a casting focus with that property and not build in a safeguard in case you got defeated?”

Lup was silent, for a few seconds before she shrugged. “Oops?”

“Whatever, we’ve got all the time in the world to discuss this later! Cha’boy is going back in! Get ready to pick the boys up!” Taako cast Featherfall on himself, and with a little playful wave at Kravitz he dived back in.

“Laterz!” Lup followed him suit, leaving Kravitz and Barry one more time awkwardly alone.

“So,” Kravitz started, clearing his throat, “that's Taako's sister.”

_ A package deal. _ He was starting to understand what that had meant.

“Yes.”

“Your wife .”

Barry grinned, “Yeah…”

“She's-”

“Amazing.”

Kravitz sighed and allowed himself to smile, looking down at Lydia's wispy soul down in his own hands. Not a sign of magic or necrotic energy was left on it, like it had been completely burnt away from her. “So, what am I gonna do with you…”

-

When the messed up people around them saw Julia, Killian and Carey first and then others tie themselves or hold on to the ladders, they promptly imitated them. The only ones who didn’t seem to care were those still trying to throw Magnus and Merle off the platform.

The two of them weren’t having a good time, as Taako saw while he fell down in slow motion. He extended an arm, collecting the smoke around it to create another ladder they could use as a way out, but Lup was immediately by his side and shocked him with a spark of electric damage.

“What was that for?!” Taako erupted, surprised and pissed off.

“Don't use the smoke. Seriously , bro-bro, don't think I haven't noticed,” she pointed at his hands, he took another look at them.

“This?” he scoffed, “This is nothing, it doesn't even hurt.”

“Whatever it is, it can't be good. Normal magic, I'll take care of Wonderland!”

Taako smirked. “Do you think you can? It's the same principle as transmutation, it requires  _ finesse,  _ Lulu.”

Lup frowned, Taako didn't need to see her face to read her body language and right now she was equally worried and pissed. “Don’t. Last warning.” She said. “I'll take care of the girls, and if you go on another power high I'm knocking you out .”

Oh, right, that was still a thing. He'd been too messed up to notice earlier but that place was still making him feel on cloud nine. “I'll handle it!” He saluted her as he finally landed on the platform. Magnus and Merle were cornered, on the edge of the platform, fighting off a crowd with the clear intentions of killing them.

Taako stepped forward and then, exploiting the still active effect of Featherfall, jumped over the crowd, using their heads as stepping stones, and got on the catwalk, a few feet away from Magnus and Merle. “Hey, thugs! Guess who got his body back!” he crowed, the contestants stopped in unison and turned around to face him.

Merle laughed. They didn't even have the time to reply before Taako raised a hand and a majestic spectral binicorn manifested, running amok and dispersing the crowd. Magnus took advantage of the situation and charged through the crowd himself until he was up next to Taako. He stared him up and down with a frown before suddenly crushing him in a bear hug.

“Not really the time , Mags!” Taako croaked, trying to wriggle free.

“I'm glad to see you're alright. To see you in that state. .. was harsh,” Magnus sighed, letting him go with teary eyes.

“Yeah,” Taako gave him a pained grin. “Cha’boy sucks at ghosting. Gotta thank Lup and her aim, honestly!”

Magnus arched an eyebrow, with an intrigued smile. “ Aim?”

“Guys? Not to be a bum, but not really the time!” Merle kicked in the face a nasty looking halfling who was trying to climb on the catwalk.

“Yup! Yup! Don't worry, got a plan!” Taako announced and cast Featherfall again on both of them, just before a Sending message from Lup got to him.

_ We're ready. _

Taako smiled, opened his arms and murmured the incantation for Reverse Gravity under his breath. Magnus and Merle shouted in surprise when the floor suddenly became the ceiling, but the previously cast spell allowed them to start descending slowly and without crashing down several feet like the people who'd been attacking them.

Not everyone in the chamber fell, the people who didn't climb on the platform were holding on to a number of ladders, while three familiar figures were now slightly above the three’s point of view, falling in slow motion under the effect of the same spell.

“Jules!” Magnus excitedly waved his arms when he recognized his wife. Julia started moving like she was swimming and managed to approach them.

“Mags! Taako ! You're alright!” she called.

“Yeah!” Taako giggled, “Wasn't really dead! Sorry for spooking you!”

Lup wasn’t with them. She was hovering above, just under the catwalk, with her arms open and a whirlwind of smoke spinning around her. The 38 game rooms were disappearing, the walls cracking and shattering, pieces of debris getting sucked in the twister.

Taako looked at her and grimaced.  _ Lucky her, _ he found himself envying Lup for an instant before the landing brought him back to his senses.

The hole was closing slowly, Magus first helped Julia get out, while Barry helped her up on the other side. Taako went immediately after, floating up and down at the point of gravity inversion for a few seconds before Kravitz pulled him away. Magnus was out after him and he rushed into his wife’s arms without missing a beat.

Killian and Carey slowly climbed out after Magnus and they just looked around awkwardly.

“Hey, ladies!” Merle waved at them cheerfully like the last few weeks hadn’t been a thing.

Killian was just staring at Taako like she’d just seen a ghost. 

He stared back, for a few seconds, in silence before he suddenly jumped and cried “Booh!”

Killian jumped in surprise and Taako just exploded in laughter, to the point of losing his balance and falling ass down from the hilarity.

Killian growled and stepped forward, “This fucking idiot-”

And suddenly Lup was between the two of them, serious and threatening. “Do you know why my brother is a lich?” she asked point-blank.

Taako quickly stopped laughing, the smile on his lips freezing as he felt the atmosphere change.

“It’s all your goddamn fault.” Lup hissed, sparking with the raw power she just collected.

“Hey, hey! Lup?! Calm down…” Magnus saw the sparks and immediately realized what was happening. Barry looked at him and shook his head, eyes fixed on Lup.

Lup ignored them, pointing instead a skeletal finger on Killian’s chest, getting real close to her face. “You took  _ my  _ gauntlet, you attacked  _ my  _ brother while he was sick and you tried to take  _ me  _ away from him.”

Killian opened her mouth to reply, confused and frightened.

“If you had tried to  _ think  _ for a moment instead of being a fucking idiot, he would've had time to heal and Barry wouldn’t have been forced to turn him to save his life!” She raised her voice with each word. Her hands caught fire and she looked like she was going to attack Killian when Taako stood up and slowly put a hand on her arm, lowering it down.

“That’s enough, Lulu.”

The flames immediately vanished and a sudden silence fell on them. Taako blinked, trying to understand why all of a sudden everyone was staring at him.

“Koko?” Lup whispered, her voice inexplicably excited.

Taako blinked, gripping tightly on her arm. “What?” He looked around. “Have I got something on my face?”

“Taako, you’re touching me.” Lup explained, her voice quiet and wavering.

Taako looked down, where his tinted black skin was connecting with her transparent one and he just stared as his brain tried to fix a cog in an uneven mechanism.

Liches were incorporeal, they were pure Arcane power bound onto a soul so they could only come in contact with magic objects and the like, but everything else was impossible to touch and move, including other living people. “Uh.” Taako was only able to say.

“What the fuck happened to your hands?” Kravitz hissed in panic, stepping towards them.

“Oh.” Carey said, leaning forward and protectively pushing Killian back. “I thought those were gloves!”

Lup was now tightly holding Taako’s hand with both of hers. He felt the pressure but  otherwise the contact was just numb, could she feel it? They could feel each other’s touch normally while both being in spectral form, but this was different. He should’ve been glad he could still hold Lup’s hand, but something about the nature of the contact unnerved him.

Kravitz took Taako’s free hand in his to examine it closely. He’d always been warm to the touch but his skin was now burning hot and it took Taako a moment to realize it was actually  _ too _ hot. He retracted his arm with an hiss, Kravitz didn’t look surprised nor pleased. “It’s like you’re imbued with Negative Energy,” he grimaced. “Did Edward do this to you?”

“It happened when you conjured the door, right?” Merle popped in. Barry had gotten closer too now, examining Taako’s hands with what the twins had got to call ‘his Science face’.

“Did you do this to yourself?” Kravitz growled, Taako averted his eyes.

“It was an accident,” he mumbled. He started to roll up the robe’s sleeves: earlier the color spread up until the elbows but now it continued, unbroken, up his arms. Taako grimaced, now that he was aware of it, he could feel the numbness up to his shoulders. “I guess that jerk’s possession didn’t help.” He let Lup go, extending his arms palms up towards Kravitz and Barry. “Any ideas?”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Barry admitted. “I’ll take another look at the ship’s lab if you want-”

As he spoke, the building under their feet started to sag down, as if its structure turned into fabric or a very thin sheet of metal.

“Oops,” Lup said, looking frantically around. “Yeah, I might’ve triggered the destruction of this place, let’s get off this damn building!”

Featherfall was still in effect for most of them, so it took them just a few jumps to get off the edge as Wonderland started to crumple and dissolve into smoke that evaporated quickly, leaving a number of people and corpses scattered around the clearing.

“Carey!” Johann called from the other hand of the opening, running towards them, together with Lucretia.

From Carey’s shoulder, Cam looked up and called. “Lucretia!”

The woman froze, a thousands expressions chasing after each other on her face. “Cam…” she whispered. “You’re still- Oh, gods, Cam...I’m so sorry…”

“I know, serves you right,” he rolled his eyes, but spoke with no ill will. “Thanks for coming back, even if it wasn’t for me.”

Killian glared at Lucretia, but stood still, keeping a constant eye on Lup, who was still hovering around Taako. “Red suits you,” she grimaced but there was no ill intent in her voice.

Lucretia blushed and stuttered, her eyes running to Killian’s burned hand. “I’m so glad you let that thing go.”

“Yeah. Just a suggestion, next time there’s a crisis don’t get wasted, uh?” Carey laughed. “We left No.3113 in charge, we should probably send her a message. And you’ll come with us, the Bureau is in shambles without you.”

Lucretia smiled, then started to walk towards the rest of the group, freezing when she realized who was with them. “Lup!” she called, beaming.

“Oh, Creesh !” Lup grinned, floating towards her. “Glad to see you back on track!”

Lucretia shrugged sheepishly, “They told you?”

“I’ve been watching the whole time,” she said maliciously. “I really want to punch you once I get my hands on a corporeal form, but it’s still nice to see you.”

Lucretia chuckled. “Likewise, Lup.” She looked at the rest of the group. “Did you retrieve the Bell?”

Magnus, Merle and Taako just looked at her in an awkwardly long silence.

“Well, shit,” Merle said in the end.

-

A few weeks later, Kravitz walked around the area that used to be Wonderland and into the Wilds, holding Lydia in a small silver cage he'd conjured. He’d postponed taking her to the Astral Plane because he was sure Edward would try to reclaim her and he finally knew he was right when he could feel a familiar pull of energy coming from a smaller clearing.

Edward was waiting for him, the Disguise Self spell making him look exactly like he was in life, no fancy garment or makeup, just the brown tunic he wore when he lived with his brother and sister. His expression was disinterested and bored and didn’t stop pretending to look at his nails even when Kravitz approached.

“So,” he started, acknowledging Kravitz’s presence. “I’m bored , Keetz.”

“Then come with me.”

Edward groaned, laying dramatically on the rocks he was sitting on. “This again? No shit, look, I’m not killing anyone. I know your new friends are liches too, can’t Bird Queen cut a deal for us like she surely did for them?” He jumped down and approached Kravitz, opening his arms in a friendly gesture.

Kravitz stayed impassible. “Edward, you killed so many people,” he sighed. “You used the Animus Bell to send prematurely hundreds of souls to the Astral Plane and  _ I know _ you don’t regret it.”

“Well,” he dragged, “I didn’t try to resurrect anyone.”

“You performed the Ceremony of Endless Night to turn yourself and forced me to do the same against my will.” Kravitz growled, his composure breaking down. “You forced me to keep on living a wretched existence, just because you couldn’t bear the thought that my time had come!”

Edward straightened his back. “We weren’t ready to let you go,” he said softly, lovingly. “We still aren’t.” He sighed, “where’s Lily?”

Kravitz moved his coat, exposing the small silver cage. Edward’s eyes widened and he kneeled down, the fluid movement betraying the fact that despite the glamour he was still incorporeal.

“What did you do to her?” he wailed, he didn’t sound angry, just shocked and sad. His form glitched for a brief moment.

“She’s alright, she’s sleeping. I’m going to cut you a deal , Edward.” Kravitz slowly said, looking straight into his eyes. “Surrender yourself and the Animus Bell and I’ll make sure you don’t suffer in the Eternal Stockade. My new... colleague can purify your soul like she did with Lydia, I can send you to the eternal rest together.”

Edward grimaced and backed away. “Fuck you,” he just said. “You really turned into that wretched goddess’ pet, didn’t you?” The glamour flickered as he started to charge a spell.

“Wro~ong answer!” a familiar voice lilted from Edward’s back. A whirlwind of fire appeared around him, settling in the shape of a cage. “Dude, I’m so gonna enjoy wrecking your shit!”

The elven woman who appeared, dancing around the cage, bore a striking resemblance to Taako, but was wearing the same black cape as Kravitz.

“Is that holy fire?” Kravitz raised an eyebrow, unsurprised by the sudden ambush. “How can you cast that?”

Lup giggled, “Queen Mom’s blessing and I multiclass as a Paladin. Don’t tell my brother! So-” she looked at Edward, who was panicking trying to figure out a way to escape, and grinned. “I’m gonna make you suffer .”

-

Taako took his time to chop and crush the spices before adding them to the sauce he would marinate the meat in. For the time being he didn’t want to be around anyone so he retreated to the ship’s kitchen, that everyone knew was a sacred place for the twins nobody had the right to enter while the cooking was in progress.

Despite being the only thing he was doing, Taako had already spaced out during the cooking process a couple of times, unable to focus while thinking that Lup and Kravitz were already out on a mission to recover the Bell.

He started crushing the herbs, slowly careful not let the blade slip from his gloved hands. The white silk-like gloves Barry and Merle had crafted for him prevented the food from rotting and spoiling as he touched, they were a bother to cook with and were already staining, but it was necessary, at least until what they’ve called a Taint on his hands didn’t disappear.

A hissing sound announced the rift opening in the middle of the room. Taako didn’t turn around, but let his shoulders relax as the dropped the knife and poured the paste into the sauce.

Without making a noise, Lup draped herself over his shoulders, burying her face in his neck, she smelled like charcoal and grass.

“So?” he said when it was obvious she wasn’t going to speak.

“Too easy, already done. I’m bummed ,” she leaned over him and dipped a finger in the pan, licking the sauce off of it. “Pepper.”

Taako sighed and added a dash of pepper before stirring again. “You got the Bell?”

“Already gave it to Luce, let Hungry Boy come, we sooo ready!” she wrapped her hands around his neck, he shifted, trying to get more freedom of movement. Where the taint started on his shoulder, the contact between them had already started to burn.

“How’s that body?” he asked, getting her to stand up on her own feet.

Lup grinned, stepped back and twirled, making the feathery cape flow and wrap around her. “Fucking rad . It’s a construct, technically, but I can barely tell. I had such amazing sex with Barry,” she added, waving her eyebrows.

Taako made a face. “Eugh, didn’t wanna know about that part.”

Lup laughed.  _ Gods, how he had missed that sound. _

“Where’s Barold anyway? Go bother him.”

“Down at the Bureau,” she blew a raspberry. “Still dealing with the second inoculation and all that shit. Normal people won’t see the Hunger when it arrives, even if we have a counterplan we need to protect the surface while we enact it.”

The plan required them to fly straight into The Hunger as soon as the Storm started. They still had months to prepare, but the time was passing very fast it was scary. It felt like the end of every other circle, but instead of getting ready to run away, they were getting ready to fight. It was like nothing had changed, and yet everything felt different.

Taako poured the sauce over the meat in a clean container and cooled it with a small contained variant of Cone of Cold. It took him a few tries to get the spell to settle. “How’s the job?” he asked quickly, before Lup could make any remark.

“Eh,” she shrugged, “it’s alright. The Astral Plane is bleak as fuck but you get to see places and be dramatic and get in interesting situations...You’re gonna love it.”

Taako froze just for an instant, before continuing to clean the old pan. Lup noticed, obviously, she’d always been able to notice.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, sure, absolutely peachy ,” he dismissed her, flashing a smile. “I’m just-” he stared down at the marinating meat like mesmerized, it took him a moment to realize he spaced out again. “Fuck.”

“Breathe,” Lup leaned again against his back again. “It’s ok, what’s up?”

Taako was silent for a long couple of minute. “Krav told me once he wanted to be a conductor.”

Lup laughed, “Really! Always pinned that guy for a bard ! How are your dates going?”

Taako scoffed. “Anyway,” he avoided the question. “I think I get what he’s saying. Becoming a Reaper sounds awesome and shit, but-” he paused, looking for the right words. “I had an idea, you know? Back then from when I was still searching for you, before all this Bureau bullshit…”

“Mags told me you had a show …”

Taako grinned, “It was rad. I was rad, I would have done anything to buy another wagon and go back on the road... with you .” He turned around and looked at her. “Lucretia had meant that stagecoach for us, you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m glad it didn’t happen. I would’ve forgotten Barry and you would have tried to set us up together for a decade before we actually woke up,” Lup shrugged.

Taako burst out laughing. “Taako the matchmaker , now that’s a thought!”

“We can still do it, you know?” she returned serious, “The show, I mean. Even when we’re both in service of the Bird Mom- eh, the Raven Queen. Seriously, bro, she’s chill as fuck, I still got plenty of free time and I got her to consider accepting Barry in her revenue too!”

Taako smiled, now that was something he could look forward too.

“Sounds better than the two of us against the world, right?” she grinned. “I was wondering, though, there’s something I don’t get…”

Taako looked up, raising an eyebrow.

“How did you keep your memories from the beginning? Why were you alone immune to the Voidfish?”

Taako smiled and soon started chuckling.

He was standing in the very same place.

The table where the younger Fisher had been was empty but he was standing in the very same place .

With a bright grin, he looked at Lup and started talking.

_ “Well, in hindsight, the way the whole thing started was extremely dumb…” _

-

The Goddess Istus finished weaving the smaller branch of her work and tied the threads in a messy but satisfying ending. It took her a couple of tries to get it right, but she finally had a result she could look back at and feel proud of. 

All the many colors so exquisitely embroidered, delicately and precisely sewn into a pattern narrating a story on the tapestry. It wasn't as big as the main story, nor as elaborate than a few of the other scarves, but it was still good. She found joy in weaving this tale, and in the love a few hundreds of people gave it.

She smiled at you, who despite everything, remained until the end and with a little bow she said “Thank you.”


	37. PREMISE, THANKS AND TRIVIA

**to play the fool Version II** is live! If you’re here to check whats the haps, In the past four months I’ve been reworking and rewriting the fanfic with the support of skilled people (more on them later), so feel free to start from the very beginning and experience the story in a completely different way.

Before you rush in and enjoy, though, I’ve got a few things to say.

**_Premise_ **

  * I didn't keep the old fic, because I consider this one an improvement of it, more than an actual "second version", but if you'd like to make a comparison, there will be a link to download a pdf version on my tumblr: chrisis-averted.
  * This fic has been illustrated by two amazing friends: comic book artist Erica D’Urso (Prison Witch, Midnight Roads) and prospitiangoose. When I got them into the “job” I made one thing clear: one of my favourite things about the TAZ fandom is that the characters don't have a canon design, that's why there's little to no physical description of the characters in this story (except for the OCs). For this reason, I encouraged the two artists to keep faithful to their own designs for the characters and for this reason you’ll see two different designs for every character.
  * I initially wanted to publish this fic on April 1st (April’s _fool_ , get it?) but I didn’t manage to finish the rewriting properly, and not all planned illustrations were ready. Unfortunately, due to job and real life, the last bunch of drawings by Erica aren’t done: the sketches will be changed with the finished drawings in the next few months.
  * I said for a while I would've liked to write an epilogue/37th chapter but the more I tried writing it the more I realized it was "angst for the sake of angst" and it would've ruined the ending I set up, so I let that go. Maybe I'll write it as a one-shot sequel to this 'verse one day, maybe not, who knows...Anyway, enjoy a bunch of trivia/notes below.



**_Thanks_ **

While I was still writing the last couple of chapters in January, I joined the  _ TAZ Fic Writers _ discord server, and I have to say: without the people I met there, I wouldn’t have taken the rough and imperfect work that Version 1 was and polished it into this good good fic I’m finally proud of putting behind me as something  _ I completed. _

I want to thank teramina and distractedKat, my amazing beta readers, advisors and friends. Despite time zones and time tables were against us we managed to work together; I owe a lot of the fic’s themes to them and please go to read  _ their _ amazing works because they deserve all of the attention. I want to thank Faiahae, an English Major who despite the rush of the final days, made an effort on making the final checks for this.

I want to thank prospitiangoose, one of the illustrators of this fic, for her amazing art and for helping me get out of a pesky artist block. Please reblog her drawings for this work from her tumblr, commission her if she’ll ever open commissions, because she deserves all the recognition.

I want to thank Erica, who was incredibly patient and supportive and accepted to illustrate this fic even if she never and probably will never have the time to listen to TAZ or read this fanfiction in its entirety.

I want to to thank Miranda, my beautiful wonderful girlfriend, who didn’t even show her annoyance once when I pressured her to listen to TAZ and always shared my excitement for this project.

I want to thank cha-woop-a, sam (ok_but_first_tea) and SiobhanRobotnik, who had early access to this version and helped me in a lot of little ways to get through with it.

Finally, I want to thank the “little” community of the TAZ Fic Writers Discord server (especially kipp, bunnylexicon, necrojancer and acecreates, who helped me with a series of little things when I got stuck). It has impacted on my writing experience in an overwhelmingly positive way and has allowed me to share and take part of so many projects I would’ve simply enjoyed from afar otherwise. I want to thank everyone who left a comment, tagged a bookmark with a few loving words and enjoyed this story to the point of recommending it to others.

I’m 100% sure I would have never finished this story without any of you.

See you on my next project.

**_Trivia_ ** **(come back and read this after reading the fic)**

    * “to play the fool” and all the chapter titles are a bunch of Shakespeare quotes and much like the McElroys (and how glad I was when I found out) I’m a big theatre nerd and my High School English Professor’s description of Shakespeare as “the first shitposter” is one of my favourite things ever. But to be completely honest, the reason I titled it this way is for _another_ fanfic I read as soon as I finished listening to TAZ: Impossible Encounters by InterNutter. In chapter nine, the quote “It took a clever man to play the fool, and Taako was a virtuoso” inspired me the whole concept of this story.
    * The first version’s titles were initially following the “in which…” trope: this was inspired by the chapter titles of one of my favourite books, _Howl’s Moving Castle_ (seriously, the movie is good, but the book is excellent). The way I wrote Taako was heavily influenced by book!Howl, and also by the main character from an obscure manga nobody probably knows about (Vanitas no Carte).
    * This is actually the _third_ fanfiction I write following the trope “character with amnesia in canon doesn’t lose his memory and thus changes the plot” but it’s the first I actually finish writing. One of those two character has actually _a lot_ of things in common with Taako and I’m still reeling...
    * The scene with Sazed in chapter 3 was actually pretty vivid in my head before I even started the rewrite, but I was reading Luster at the time and it felt too similar to one of the early scenes of that fic, so I cut it out just to realize it was fucking good and I wrote it back in.
    * Since there's no canonical D&D elvish language, I took the liberty of using the Tolkienian variant.
    * Julia wasn’t actually meant to be such an important character in this story or to even survive, I wrote chapter 5 with every intention of killing her off, just to realize that _I couldn’t_. I’m so happy she became such a major character. I wanted to join Magnus’ and Taako’s backstory from the first moment I started writing this fic, although I didn’t have the specifics, and most certainly I didn’t plan on Taako saving anyone, but the reviews for the fifth chapters really showed how much people wanted Julia to be saved and I realized I wanted this too. In the first version of this story Taako only saved Julia and Kalen wasn’t even mentioned, here I hope it gives them a bit more closure that explains better the dynamic between the three of them later.
    * I’m not comfortable writing romance: the dynamic between Magnus and Julia is very supportive but there’s close to no romantic scenes between them, the same for Taako and Kravitz later. A lot of the ships I support are mentioned or barely addressed (Davenchurch!) but that’s all you’ll ever get from me.
    * The OCs, oh boy. I never thought they would grow so much on me. Buffin’s name comes from user Buffintruda, who at the time of the first version reviewed methodically and with a lot of words every single chapter. Her review meant for me for a while that it was time to post the next chapter. “Madame Shiram Kistel, a.k.a, the Lady Magica” is a named after ShikiMagica, another such reviewer, and so are Panthea and Rosie from the Caleb Cleveland excerpt in the last chapter.
    * When I wrote the fucking Kelemvor cleric I didn’t expect to keep the goddamn Bendybatch Cumberman joke in there (of course we’re still doing this) _but then I heard TAZ: Elementary and of course Griffin loves that meme._ So, I kept it. It also references one of my favourite jokes from MBMBAM (the personal stylist one). Speaking of MBMBAM jokes, the beginning of chapter 9 is a completely self-indulgent rewrite of a scene from the tv show.
    * Buffin’s prophecy comes from shorteststory.com, I love that blog.
    * Liza, _oh, Liza._ I had her character in mind for another fic, barely mentioned in the first version, then I decided to write her in with this one and I completely adore her. The two guards are...I’m actually pretty ashamed to write it but they’re cameos from the protagonists of the Netflix movie _Bright._ Yes, Taako killed  Troll Fantasy Will Smith.
    * I kept the spells used in this story as coherent with D&D 5th edition as possible. Even the “spell” Taako uses in chapter 29, Let Go Of Me, is an Epic Transmutation spell from the 3.5 edition handbook. Transmuting materials into others for spell components might seem a little cheating from a narrative viewpoint, but I like the flavour it adds to the story and this is a Taako that’s getting dangerously close to level 20. If he could _almost_ transmute the sapphire circle before the taco powerup, I’m gonna go with he can transmute jewels and such instead of using a wand. This is canon divergence anyway, _My City Now_.
    * A lot of the character dynamics and expressions in chapter 10 are taken from the TAZ live action video: it’s the video that got me into the podcast and made me fell in love with it, of course I had to reference it.
    * Still in chapter 10: the only big change I made from the first version of the story is that Taako doesn’t inadvertently talks static in front of Brian and Killian. It was funny but definitely too careless for the character I was trying to establish and it clashed with the heavier scene of finding Lup later.
    * Speaking of that scene and the relative chapter title: I took a couple of liberties there, both with Gundren’s job offer timing (it doesn’t make sense that they met on Midsummer) and Lup’s skeleton. It’s obvious that when the first arc of TAZ was played, Griffin hadn’t planned ahead very much: there was no reason for the robe to crumble to dust as well and so I changed it a little and Taako has that too now. Many people associate that the _to be or not to be_ monologue with the skull scene, while the initial quote and title of this chapter are from the _actual_ skull scene. I changed it from the initial title because I thought the parallel - pretty obvious - would fit.
    * The whole “EGG!” scene is hilarious but it’s based on an actual thing called Proust Effect (and ironically, Proust Effect was the initial draft title for this fanfic).
    * I’ve thought a lot about how the Voidfish’s static is supposed to work, and I’m not the right person to put this into words, but to address a couple of things that came up a lot with my collaborators: anyone who’s not IPRE _can_ think “Taako is a Red Robe” or “Taako contributed to creating one of the Grand Relics” because Red Robe and Grand Relics are _fake_ _concepts_ that were born later. Members of the IPRE can _hear_ those words (not static-ed) but they can’t _comprehend_ them (much like Magnus couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind Refuge’s statue) because they subconsciously _know_ what there concepts really mean. Also, if a person is erased completely, their name (unless completely unique) is obviously not: so that’s why “Julia” and “John” weren’t erased.
    * The excerpt from the book Taako reads in chapter 14 is actually from my Quantum Mechanics book. Quantum Mechanics is actually magic.



 

  * __The wolf mask._ It’s such a short scene but it means a lot to me. I already mentioned a character I wrote a similar fic about has a lot in common with Taako - and he has a wolf symbolism going on. Like Magnus says, the phrase “Lone Wolf” is a bit of an urban legend as in fact wolves are social animals who live and thrive best in well structured societies (packs). However, in most packs there is an “Omega” Wolf. This Wolf is at the bottom of the pack but plays an integral part in Wolf families in that they are the tricksters, the comic relief. The Omega Wolf does spend more time alone than the rest of the wolves in the pack but is still greatly loved. You see what I did there?_



 

    * Much like Griffin himself did, I started drafting the endgame of this fic more or less at the time I wrote the Candlenights chapters. _Lup was meant to appear much earlier in this story._ She was supposed to break out of the Umbrastaff after Taako attacked Lucretia and before the whole Refuge mishap, but the reunion scene I wrote was kinda underwhelming and thus I erased it and started a whole another plotline (Taako using the Philosopher’s Stone ending up becoming a lich).
    * Taako’s joke about someone randomly finding the Starblaster while drunk comes from a post on blue-mood-blue’s tumblr.
    * Chapter 20 is titled after the oldest dick joke in English literature, it is only appropriate that it’s the only chapter containing a dick joke. _I am very sorry to publicly admit_ that the highly successful “Barold, they’re lesbians” joke _is not my own creation._ It all comes from a tumblr post by agirlnameded I stumbled upon.
    * The peanut brittle death quote was also suggested by ao3 user AutumnAgain in the comments of the first version. I’m not that creative, I’m sorry.



 

  * __Magnus has an actual reason for eating the Philosopher’s Stone_ in this fic, I’m not sorry._



 

  * I started rolling dice to kept things interesting and when I got stuck around chapter 20. A Wild Magic Surge is a _Sorcerer_ ’s trait, Taako is canonically a Wizard. My take on this is that even wizards have a (less powerful) inner source of magic and Taako basically sent his own haywire when he used the Philosopher’s Stone. That or Taako is secretly a sorcerer who calls himself a wizard because he _learned_ those spells, either way works. For the Wild Magic Table I didn’t use the canon one but the Revised one you can find on the dandwiki.
  * When Taako mentions “a stroke of genius” in chapter 25, that was _me,_ writing that in real time. The “let’s play villains” plan wasn’t in the original outline of them getting to Refuge, I just had the character talk on their own and wonder what kind of plan they’d come up with. Result: amazingly chaotic.
  * Chapter 26 was initially written as _completely random_ and decided by dice rolls. I decided what the characters were going to _try to do_ and rolled for every outcome (even including some of those rolls in the fic). I didn’t know whether they were gonna succeed or not, if Johann was going to join them or not, if _Angus_ was. There were two crit miss: Barry’s _sneak_ roll and Taako’s _wisdom saving throw_ against Angus’ plead.
  * The resolution in chapter 36 was supposed to be different. Istus was going to give Barry a silver birdcage in Refuge, Killian to rage with the Gauntlet before giving it up and create a hole in the Wonderland ceiling: Barry would’ve dropped the cage to them, Julia would’ve put it in the Shared Pouch of Transfer to give it to Magnus, who would’ve given it to Taako and he would’ve used Soul Cage on the liches to trap them. It was pretty underwhelming, though, and gave no space for the reunion with Lup, so I changed it.




End file.
